With the development of medical technology in the world and in our country, surgery methods are also changing. Robotic minimally invasive surgery technique is known as a system that offers significant comfort to the surgeon during the operation and to the patient afterwards. Robotic surgery, which is used in many fields such as general surgery, gynecology or urology, has been used for a while in recipient and donor surgeries of kidney transplantation. However, with the recent advancement of technology and increased surgical experience, an important first has been achieved in our country.
Comfort for the patient and convenience for the surgeon
The robotic minimally invasive technique provides significant convenience for the surgical team and the patient. It is possible for the donor to recover more quickly after surgery and to return to daily life in a shorter time thanks to the use of small incisions with robotic surgery. In the classical technique of liver transplantation, a 3-4 millimeter vertical and 12-16 millimeter horizontal incision is made just below the rib cage to remove the patient’s healthy liver and place the donated liver. In minimally invasive surgeries performed with the robotic method, surgery is performed through three 8-millimeter holes in addition to a 2-4 cm incision. During the surgery, the surgeon sits at the console next to the operating table and controls the surgery and uses the robot. With the image taken from the console, the surgeon can see all the details and move the arms.
Liver removal is performed with a robot that can move in 6 directions
The 4 arms in the da Vinci robot can rotate 540 degrees and move in 6 directions. One of the arms is used as a camera. The high-resolution 3D image is magnified 10 times by the camera and reflected to the surgeon. In this way, the surgery area can be viewed much more clearly and in detail. Robotic arms, which are smaller in size than human hands, can also reach points that the surgeon’s hand cannot reach. Therefore, robotic surgery provides advantages to both the patient and the surgeon.
With a less painful procedure, the donor can stand up in a short time
Donors, who make the greatest sacrifice in living organ transplant surgeries, volunteer to give a part of their liver to the patient in liver transplantation. The donor’s liver renews itself after the surgery and the person can continue his life as before after a while. Robotic surgery method shortens the recovery period of the donor considerably and the person can easily return to his/her daily life and even be able to do sports within 1 month.
It was held for the first time in Türkiye
A few years ago, at King Faisal Hospital in Saudi Arabia, After the world’s first robotic liver transplant performed by Prof. Dr. Dieter Broreing, Prof. Dr. K. Yalçın Polat, started working with Dr. Broreing. After 1 year of robotics training, Dr. Broreing came to Memorial Bahçelievler Organ Transplant Center and participated in the two-day surgery program. With two separate surgeries performed in two days, two of our patients waiting for organs were reborn.
They became donors for their loved ones and stood up after 12 hours with robotic surgery
33-year-old Mustafa Çakan, who has had chronic diseases for 13 years and has been fighting liver failure for 5 years, was waking up at night due to itching and feeling constantly weak. Çakan held on to life with a piece taken from the liver of his 28-year-old brother Murat Çakan. Mustafa Çakan said, “Thanks to my brother, he agreed to donate part of his liver without hesitation. I would give it to him without even thinking. I thank him. Surgery can be a difficult process, but no one should be afraid during the surgery process. We have had an organ transplant and if we stand up on the 4th day, they should definitely not be afraid of this process.”
Murat Çakan, who was a donor for his brother, expressed his feelings with these words, “I happily agreed to donate my liver without even thinking. Thanks to my surgery being performed with robotic surgery, I was able to stand up and walk on the second day. It’s a great feeling to be able to give life to my brother. We are very happy as a family.”
Another family that recovered quickly thanks to robotic liver donor surgery was the Geyik family. 28-year-old Ömer Geyik volunteered to give a piece of his liver to his 58-year-old father Nadir Geyik, who has been fighting cirrhosis for 4 years. Prof for father-son liver transplant. Dr. They applied to Kamil Yalçın Polat. Ömer Geyik recovered quickly after the successful surgery, said, “I would have agreed no matter what, but I was relieved when I heard that I would recover faster after robotics. I stood up 12 hours after the surgery. It is the greatest happiness to recover immediately and to see my father recovering quickly.”
Prof. Dr. Kamil Yalçın Polat from the General Surgery Department of Memorial Bahçelievler Hospital, which broke new ground in Türkiye explained the surgery processes with these words; “Robotic surgery provides a smaller surgical sac, early standing, and a comfortable surgery process for the donor. Our liver donors also stood up 12 hours after surgery. We can discharge our donors who have had robotic surgery within four or five days.”
