Saudi Arabia making strides with robotic organ transplantation

As a country which began its organ transplantation journey in 1979 with a kidney transplant from a living donor, Saudi Arabia has made pivotal breakthroughs in the field 44 years later.

Saudi Arabia is now performing major organ transplants using robots. Al Arabiya English reports that a recent operation at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) in the country saw the successful completion of the world’s first fully robotic liver transplant on a 66-year-old national who was battling non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis (NASH) and Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

This is one of four other major robotic transplants performed by some of the country’s surgeons using robots for the entire process.

Dr. Dieter Broering, the Executive Director of the Organ Transplant Center told Al Arabiya English that the feat is a major win for the country in its bid to become a world leader in organ transplantation.

According to him, the KFSH&RC has worked for four decades to put the country on the global map. In 2018, robotic surgery was introduced to the field of transplantation.

Starting with robotic donor surgeries for kidneys, the facility was encouraged to take the next step by performing robotic liver transplants after their attempts were successful.

The robotic system does not operate independently. These robots enhance the precision and control of the surgeon’s movements, making surgeries safer and more accurate.

“So, it's not like what we see in the car industry with autonomous driving. The robot is only facilitating the movement of the surgeon. He can move instruments better with higher precision due to extreme magnification,” Dr. Dieter Broering said.