Each year, around 40 kidney transplants from living donors are performed at Clínic Barcelona, of which approximately 80% are currently robot-assisted. Robotic surgery has begun to be performed in certain cases of kidney transplants from deceased donors, which are very carefully selected.
The use of robotic surgery in kidney transplants has many advantages since, although it takes the same amount of time as open surgery, it minimises complications, avoids infections in the abdominal wall and the appearance of hernias, and favours a rapid recovery in the transplanted patient. Robot-assisted surgery in this type of transplant has allowed minimally invasive surgery to be performed on the patients who need it most; fragile patients with end-stage renal failure.
Robotic surgery in this type of transplant offers greater optical magnification, 3D vision, and allows the surgical professional improved instrument dexterity. At the same time, it allows for much more precise dissection and better results.
For Dr. Alcaraz, the use of robotic surgery in kidney transplants signifies “a paradigm shift in the performance of these types of intervention. Clínic Barcelona is a European benchmark for this type of surgery”.
Kidney tranplantation is a surgical procedure that involves a healthy kidney obtained from a living or deceased donor being implanted into a patient with chronic kidney disease to replace the functions of the damaged kidney and thereby avoid the need for dialysis. The aim of the transplant is to restore kidney’s functions, such as the purification of toxins in the blood, the fluid-electrolyte balance, hormone synthesis, etc.
During surgery, the professional places the new kidney in the lower part of the abdomen. They then connect the kidney artery and vein to the iliac vessels. Later, the ureter (tube that carries urine) is connected to the bladder.
The Hospital Clínic Barcelona is the centre where the first kidney transplant in Spain was carried out in 1965 (by Dr. Gil Vernet), and it continues, to this day, to be a centre of outstanding innovative activity. It was also one of the centres where the first dialysis treatments in Spain were performed.
