Transplantation: A robotic innovation revolutionizes liver surgery

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre 

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre has reached a major milestone in the field of organ transplantation. The institution has performed the world’s first series of single-incision robotic liver resections in living donors, marking a significant advancement in transplant surgery.

This innovation is based on a surgical technique performed through a single incision measuring no more than 3.5 centimeters. It replaces the multiple incisions typically required in conventional robotic surgery. This approach helps reduce postoperative pain and speeds up patient recovery while maintaining high safety standards.

This breakthrough is particularly significant for living donors, who are healthy individuals choosing to undergo surgery to save another life. The procedures were carried out on six donors with highly encouraging results. Doctors reported minimal blood loss, no major complications, and relatively low pain levels. Donors were also able to leave the hospital quickly, usually within two to three days after the procedure.

The technique also offers important advantages for pediatric transplants. In these cases, surgeons typically remove the left lateral segment of the liver, which represents about 20 percent of the organ’s total volume. This portion is especially well-suited for a single-incision approach, reducing the surgical impact on the donor while providing an appropriate graft for the recipient.

According to Professor Dieter Broering, Executive Director of the hospital’s Organ Transplant Center of Excellence, this advancement builds on a progressive development of robotic liver surgery grounded in extensive clinical experience. He noted that KFSH has already performed more than 1,600 robotic liver resections in living donors, the highest volume worldwide in this field.

The institution continues to develop innovative models of care that combine technological progress with patient and donor safety, as part of Saudi Arabia’s broader healthcare transformation program.

Caroline Haïat