Riyadh makes history with a fully robotic liver transplant

KFSHRC

King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) has achieved a global medical milestone by successfully performing a fully robotic liver transplantation using organs from living donors, with robotic surgery applied both to the donor liver procurement and to the transplantation in the recipient.

The procedure is part of the hospital’s advanced robotic liver transplantation program, which has now surpassed 100 liver transplants performed using this approach. This case represents a world first, as the patient required transplantation of both left lobes of the liver from two related living donors to ensure sufficient liver volume for the recipient while preserving a safe residual liver volume for each donor.

This achievement highlights KFSHRC’s ability to deliver highly personalized treatments through a fully robotic pathway, encompassing both donor surgery and transplantation. This approach expands the possibilities of living-donor liver transplantation while maintaining the highest standards of donor safety.

The surgery was completed successfully, with no complications reported in either the donors or the recipient. The patient was transferred out of intensive care after seven days and completed recovery under continued medical supervision.

Professor Dieter Broering, Executive Director of the Organ Transplantation Program, stated that this procedure reflects the progressive development of robotic surgery in liver transplantation, built on years of expertise. He emphasized that advanced technologies are used to enhance surgical safety, accelerate recovery, and improve long-term quality of life, while ensuring strict donor protection at every stage of care.

Caroline Haïat