Robot performs first kidney surgery in China

A surgical robot in China's Guangdong province successfully carried out a kidney surgery on a six-year-old boy, a media report said on Friday.

The surgery was carried out in the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou city on November 16, the People's Daily reported.

Hospital authorities on Thursday said it is the very first robotic surgery performed on a child in the region.

The child was diagnosed with severe left kidney hydronephrosis -- severe swelling of the kidney due to failure of normal drainage of urine to the bladder.

As the boy was old enough and his symptoms were clear-cut, the hospital decided to employ the da Vinci Surgical System, using robotic manipulators.

During the surgery, the surgeon sat behind the screen with a magnified view of the surgical site and operated the machine's arms. The system is hailed for its precision.

The surgery was completed within two hours and 20 minutes, one hour less than normal laparoscopic surgeries.