For the first time a surgical robot removes a tumor …

A medical achievement happened on Tuesday in the North Italy. For the first time in the world, doctors at the Moulinette Hospital in Turin were able to remove a metastasis in the kidney thanks to an awake patient’s surgical robot.

Robot known as Da Vinci Xi was previously used in general anesthesia, but not in people who are awake due to the risk of movement. Explained Paulo Guntro, director of the hospital’s urology district who carried out this pioneering intervention.

The patient is a 62-year-old woman who “traveled to the country and the most prestigious hospitals” in search of a solution for a “deep” metastasis of more than 5 centimeters in the kidney. The problem is It is not possible to perform an operation under general anesthesia with only one lung due to a previous cancerSo the chance of him not waking up from anesthesia was very high.

“I told the patient that her condition is very complex, because robotic surgery, the only technology that allows us to remove a tumor of these dimensions with minimal surgical intervention and preserving the kidneys, has never been used in an awake patient. Therefore, I cannot assure him of the feasibility of the intervention.”

The use of the Da Vinci Xi robot was ‘mandatory’According to the urologist, who did not think it was safe to use “traditional open air” or laparoscopic surgery – with a small camera – “due to the risk of tumor spreading, in the event that a lump of fluid was present in a patient who was at risk of movement.”

How was the process

The Turin City of Health, a health complex in which the Moulinette Hospital is located, explained that the operation led by Guntreu took two hours, required four operating arms for the robot and also used “innovative 3D reconstruction techniques”.

The patient, awake at all times, was able to continue the intervention, and thanked the medical staff, enthusiastically, at his conclusion. He said, according to Guntreau, “Thank you for giving me a second life.”