Mumbai: In a first, total Robotic liver donor hepatectomy successfully performed

In the first such surgery in Western India, a team led by Dr Gaurav Chaubal, Director - Liver, Pancreas & Intestine Transplant Program and HPB Surgery, Global Hospitals, Parel successfully performed a Total (Skin to skin) Robotic Donor Hepatectomy for a transplant on 8-month-old baby suffering from a rare metabolic liver disease called Crigler Najjar syndrome giving him a new lease of life.

An 8-month-old baby boy Mohammad Abdul Kadar Jufna born to a couple based in Ahmedabad was detected with Crigler Najjar syndrome, a rare metabolic liver disease two months back. The elder sibling had died of the same condition. The child had jaundice, diarrhoea, vomiting and repeated episodes of fever and was referred for urgent transplant to Global Hospitals, Mumbai.

After doing complete assessment, the family was counselled that he required an urgent Living Donor Liver Transplant and his mother came forth to donate a part of her liver.

Dr Gaurav Chaubal said: “Complete robotic donor hepatectomy offers various benefits to the patient like a very small scar below the waistline instead of the usual inverted L shaped scar in open surgeries. The robotic system provides enhanced precision and control, also helps reduce the amount of blood loss during surgery, has lower rates of complications compared to Open hepatectomy, including a lower risk of infection, postoperative pain, and abdominal wall hernias. Due to all these advantages, the recovery is also faster and the mother who was donor in this case was discharged on the 3^rd postoperative day cutting down the hospital stay to half of open surgeries.

“It is a proud moment for Global Hospitals as this is the first robotic donor hepatectomy done end to end (Skin to Skin) in the first attempt. The Da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgery System allows computer-guided, magnified, 3D visualization and has impressive results. We are happy to offer this advanced surgical modality to patients as this will help them quickly recover post-surgery and faster discharges,” Dr Vivek Talaulikar, Chief Executive Officer, Global Hospitals, Parel, Mumbai, added.

Our first child has already succumbed to this rare genetic condition. My wife came forth to donate part of her liver and we are very happy that she was discharged on the third day and she will be able to return back to her normal life sooner than expected. We thank the doctors from Global Hospitals for saving our child and also offering the advanced surgical services,” concluded Abdul Kadar Jufna, father of the patient.