First robotic gall bladder surgery in Hungary

A successful gall bladder operation was performed by the Da Vinci robot, using a joystick and pedal operated by a doctor.

A 68-year-old woman is doing well after undergoing the first ever Da Vinci robotic gall bladder removal in the country. The surgery at Semmelweis University was financed by social security.

The advantage of robot-assisted surgical systems is that procedures can be performed more safely, more precisely and patients recover faster, so they spend less time in the clinic. In Hungary, Semmelweis University was the first to launch a complex robotic surgery programme, extending it to education, research and medicine.

Not even a year has passed since the Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical instrument arrived at Semmelweis University in August 2021 for a two-day demonstration, which was then still being tested by the staff and students of the University's Department of Surgery I (now known as the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology). Nine months later, the clinic's own instrument was put into operation and the first operation was performed on 24 May, followed the next day by two more robot-guided operations. The first patient was able to leave the clinic on the second day after the operation and is doing well.

The technology allows the surgeon to see the surgical site in three dimensions and at least ten times magnification.

According to the rector of Semmelweis University, this new technology opens up completely new horizons not only for surgical colleagues, but also for future doctors, as it is inevitable that robotic technology will be included in the undergraduate and postgraduate training of doctors in the next 30-40 years.

Source: Sun Doctor