Manipal Hospitals performs successful robotic liver transplant with no minimal scars

Manipal Hospitals Bengaluru performed a unique robotic liver transplant on a 40-year-old patient and scripted Karnataka's first unprecedented transplant wherein the donor had only a small scar in the bikini area but no scar in abdomen.

Dr Ravichand Siddachari, HOD, and Consultant HPB & Liver Transplantation Surgery at Manipal Hospitals Bangalore, conducted this milestone surgery.

The recipient received a portion of the liver from a 32-year-old relative. A part of the donor's liver was extracted using a robotic arm during the process known as liver hepatectomy, i.e. the surgical removal of part of the donor's liver.

"The patient was suffering from chronic liver failure and his condition was critical. In fact liver transplant was the only hope for him. However, we had to be careful about the scar for the donor who is young and was apprehensive about the same. The robotic arms and a camera were positioned inside the donor's abdomen. The camera facilitated a 360-degree view, which enabled the robotic arms to remove part of the liver from the donor with absolute precision," said Dr Ravichand Siddachari.

"The scar caused by the keyhole camera was only about 10 cm, as opposed to almost 35 cm scar caused by an open surgery. Use of robotic arm has many advantages, which includes speedy recovery, precision, minimal loss of blood and hospital stay is minimized. The robotic arm can reach to small crevices, which human hands are unable to achieve and there is no surgical fatigue as well. Robotic surgery is usually performed for kidney, heart and gynaecological related medical issues," added Siddachari.

"Initially I was concerned about the scars on my abdomen but Dr Ravichand and team assured me that the scars would be negligible as they will be using robotic arm to take out part of my liver," said the donor.

"My family and I are extremely happy on the success of the transplant and I am feeling healthy. I have recovered well and performing my normal duties without any issue. We are extremely grateful to the support and care shown by doctors at Manipal," added the donor.

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