Experts stated a lung transplant was performed at a Spanish hospital on Monday using a novel approach, including a robot and a new access route that did not involve cutting through bone.

Surgeons at Vall dHebron hospital in Barcelona utilized a four-armed robot called "Da Vinci" to remove the diseased lung and place a new one through an eight-centimeter (three-inch) incision below the sternum, right above the diaphragm.

Previously, a 30-centimeter incision was necessary. Although several hospitals routinely use smaller incisions for lung transplants, this was the first time doctors could limit the incision to soft tissues.

They claim the new method is less uncomfortable for the patient since the incision closes quickly.

According to Albert Jauregui, head of the Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplants Department at Vall dHebron, they feel it is a treatment that will improve patients quality of life, the post-surgery period and minimize discomfort. They hope that this technology will ultimately expand to other facilities. He said the replacement lung was "deflated" in the operating room so that it could enter via the little incision. Its an area of the body with incredibly elastic skin, allowing you to extend the aperture without touching a single rib.

However, smaller incisions were made to the side of the rib cage to allow the robots arms and 3D cameras. The approach might be used for transplants involving two lungs using the same little incision.

The groundbreaking technique, previously only used to treat lung cancer, was carried out on, a 65-year-old man requiring lung transplant due to pulmonary fibrosis. He reported feeling no discomfort and had no pain after regaining consciousness and waking up from the general anaesthetic.

(Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/spanish-hospital-deploys-four-armed-robot-lung-transplant-2023-04-17/)