Robotic kidney transplantation.
Authors: Lluis Peri, Mireia Musquera, Laura Izquierdo, Caterina Fernández-Ramón, Anat Melnick y
Antonio Alcaraz.
Arch. Esp. Urol. 2017; 70 (4): 462-467
Vol. 70, Number. 4, May 2017
OBJECTIVE: Renal transplant surgery has
not undergone any major changes until a few years
ago, probably due to the technical difficulty involved
in performing a laparoscopic transplant. With the
introduction of robotic technology, the difficulties derived
from laparoscopic surgery in certain procedures have
been reduced, so we can now offer a minimally invasive
approach to kidney recipients.
METHODS: Review of published literature on robotic
kidney transplantation.
RESULTS: Since the first robot-assisted renal
transplantation in 2009, several hundred cases have
been performed. The different series of published cases,
although with different surgical techniques, show initial
functional results comparable to conventional open
surgery. Despite this evidence, there are no comparative
quality studies that confirm this hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS: Robotic renal transplantation is a
feasible surgical technique with interesting functional
results. As a minimally invasive route, it is a promising
option to reduce the surgical morbidity inherent to the
renal transplant.