Jun 22, 2009 7:40 pm US/Eastern
New Robot Technology Eases Kidney Transplants
N.J. Hospital Performs World's First All-Robotic Transplant
LIVINGSTON, N.J. (CBS) ―
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Maureen Schrader became the world's first person to receive an all-robotic kidney transplant at the St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J.
CBS
Five years ago, Maureen and Jim Schrader met, fell in love and got married. But three years later, Maureen suddenly developed a problem.
"I began having bad, bad migraines, then some nausea, then some swelling in my legs, and it was just picking up," she tells CBS 2.
Maureen, who's been a type-one diabetic for 20 years, was in full-fledged kidney failure and needed a kidney transplant.
The transplant operation has been around for more than 50 years and over time, the life-saving operation has remained essentially the same.
"That has been done with the same operation for over 50 years," says Dr. Stuart Geffner of St. Barnabas Medical Center in New Jersey. "It's been done through a large open incision, typically in the pelvis either on the right side or the left side with the connection of the transplanted kidney to the recipient's blood vessels."
But the once painful and somewhat difficult surgery to recover from became a little easier and less painful in Maureen's operation. That's because her surgery was the first-ever all-robotic kidney transplant in the world.
Dr. Geffner says the da Vinci Surgical Robot helps decrease blood loss and improves wound healing with its tiny robot incision.
"All of our patients are on immuno-suppressive medicines, many are diabetic, some are obese and all these things combine to give these patients a fairly high rate of risk of infections in their transplant incisions," Dr. Geffner says.
But what makes this technological advance truly noteworthy is that Maureen's new kidney came from her new husband.
"When we met five years ago and got married, we knew we met for a reason and now we certainly are the perfect match," she says. "We know why we met."
"You know, she's got a piece of me in here now, and she takes me with her everywhere she goes," her husband Jim adds.
It's been six months since Maureen's transplant, but both she and Jim were back to almost normal activity within a few weeks. She's now on the transplant list for a pancreas that will hopefully cure her diabetes as well.
Since Maureen's transplant, Dr. Geffner has performed eight more fully robotic kidney transplants. The only downside so far is that the procedure is difficult to learn, and few surgeons are currently doing it.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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