Italian doctors have completed the world's first robotically assisted pancreatic transplant
This operation could lead to new solutions for diabetes treatments because the procedure's "mini–invasive" nature significantly reduces post–operation complications‚ according to the surgical team at the university hospital in Pisa.
Using the robotic technique‚ surgeons can carry out the transplant with three small holes and a seven–centimeter incision. "This will put an end to the decades–old dilemma of whether it's possible to do pancreatic transplants because the operation is so invasive when done in the traditional way‚" said Ugo Boggi‚ who heads the team. The transplant was carried out Sept. 27‚ on a 43–year–old mother of two who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 24. After the three–hour operation‚ the patient suffered no complications and left the hospital on Oct. 30. The machine used in the operation is the "Da Vinci SHDI robot‚" which has several arms and was designed in the multidisciplinary Robotic Surgery Centre in Pisa.
Source: diabetes.org
