A live donor kidney transplant was performed by surgeons in the Allegheny General Hospital assisted by a robotic surgeon arm. The altruistic kidney donor from western Pennsylvania was said to be recovering well after the minimally invasive kidney removal surgery.
Dr. Kusum Tom, who performed the surgery alongside Drs. Ngoc Thai and Akhtar Khan said that robotic was much more precise and was the future. The surgery was the first of its kind in the state. The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System was used during the surgery performed on June 30.
The donor who preferred to remain anonymous was a 66 year old man from Butler. He is believed to have said that the surgery has a profound effect on the recipient but not much of an effect on the donor. The recipient is also unmentioned, but part of a national chain that resulted in four other transplants. He is believed to be a 65 year old man with an end stage kidney disease.
Allegheny General is the first in Pittsburgh and among only a handful of facilities in the United States using the robot to assist in the procedure. Dr. Kusum Tom, said that robotic surgery results in less pain and less recovery time. Her patient was discharged the morning after the transplant, compared with a typical three- or four-day recovery.