The world's first robotic surgery for a pregnant woman

Rabin Medical Center (Israel) has just announced the successful performance of the world's first robotic surgery on a pregnant woman without opening the abdomen.

Dr. Ian White with Tzofiya Leibovich and her daughter after the world's first robotic surgery for pregnant women without opening the abdomen. Photo: Rabin Medical Center

Patient Tzofiya Leibovich, 23, gave birth to a healthy daughter a few weeks after surgery.

Leibovich was admitted to the hospital at 32 weeks pregnant after being diagnosed with acute enteritis, which was later discovered to have Crohn's disease. The inflammation progressed to a perforated bowel, forcing doctors to perform an emergency bowel resection.

According to Dr. Ian White, Director of the Colorectal Surgery Unit at Rabin Medical Center, similar cases would normally require a complete open surgery, which means the pregnant woman would almost certainly give birth prematurely. However, the surgical team, including Dr. White, Professor Asnat Walfisch - Director of the Obstetrics Hospital, Professor Eran Hadar - Head of the Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and dozens of medical staff, decided to test the robotic endoscopy method.

The surgery lasted several hours and was described as “unprecedented”. “We were constantly debating whether to continue or to convert to open surgery. But when both mother and baby were stable, we continued,” Dr. White said. He admitted to feeling anxious until the baby was safely delivered a few weeks later.

Thanks to minimally invasive laparoscopic techniques, Leibovich avoided the risk of premature birth, large scars, or a colostomy. She shared that this was an extremely painful and stressful period, but the dedication of the medical team made her feel “the special nature of this moment.”

Rabin Medical Center considers the surgery an important step forward in the application of robots in surgery for pregnant women, opening up hope for safer treatment of complex medical conditions during pregnancy.

According to VNA

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/ca-phau-thuat-bang-robot-dau-tien-tren-the-gioi-cho-thai-phu-526779.html