CHICAGO, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- University of Illinois Medical Center surgeons in Chicago say they are the first in the world to use robotic surgery to remove a kidney and pancreas.
The center says it is one of only two in the United States to perform living-donor kidney-pancreas transplants, and the only center to use robotic technology for the removal of the two organs.
The recipient, a 34-year-old unidentified man with Type 1 diabetes, suffered kidney failure as a result of the disease. His wife donated her left kidney and approximately 50 percent of her pancreas to her husband.
During the Jan. 12 surgery, physicians inserted the laparoscope and robotic arms of the da Vinci Surgical System through half-inch incisions in the donor's abdomen to control precisely the real-time movements of the surgical instruments inside the patient.
Both organs were removed from the donor through a 2 3/4-inch incision and then transplanted into the recipient during traditional open surgery. Surgeons said the kidney and pancreas are functioning normally and the patient no longer requires insulin to control his diabetes.
