In a major medical breakthrough, surgeons at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah have successfully performed Israel’s first robot-assisted lung transplant, using advanced technology that eliminates the need to fully open the patient’s chest and dramatically reduces the physical trauma associated with conventional transplant surgery.

The historic procedure, performed in October and announced Monday, places Israel among a select group of countries capable of carrying out the highly complex operation. According to hospital officials, only approximately 20 robotic lung transplants have been performed worldwide, with the first taking place in Spain just three years ago.

The operation was conducted using the da Vinci robotic surgical system, which allowed doctors to implant a donor lung and connect it to the patient’s blood vessels and airways through several small incisions.

Unlike traditional lung transplant surgery, which generally requires opening the chest and spreading the ribs apart, the robotic approach minimizes damage to muscles, nerves, and surrounding tissue.

The distinction is particularly significant for lung transplant recipients, whose recovery can be complicated by severe postoperative pain.

Traditional lung transplantation is an extraordinarily complex procedure, generally lasting eight to ten hours. Following surgery, patients often experience significant discomfort that makes it difficult to breathe deeply, cough, and clear secretions from their lungs, increasing the risk of pneumonia and other infections.

By avoiding the extensive chest opening, doctors hope the robotic technique will substantially reduce pain, improve breathing during recovery, and shorten hospitalization.

The groundbreaking surgery was led by Dr. Yuri Peisakhovich, director of Beilinson’s Department of Thoracic Surgery.

“Robotic lung transplantation is a turning point for lung transplants in Israel,” Peisakhovich said.

“We aspire to make robotic surgery without opening the chest the accepted standard for lung transplantation within five years,” he added.

Patient’s Recovery Exceeds Expectations

Hospital officials reported particularly encouraging results following the procedure.

According to Dr. Dan Gurfiel, director of Beilinson’s Cardiothoracic Surgical Intensive Care Unit, the patient’s recovery was significantly easier than the medical team had anticipated.

“The recovery of the patient who underwent robotic surgery exceeded all expectations. He required almost no pain medication, apart from paracetamol,” Gurfiel said.

The patient also spent less time in intensive care and in the hospital overall, according to the hospital.

While the results are promising, doctors have not yet established through large-scale comparative studies whether robotic lung transplantation consistently produces better outcomes than conventional surgery.

Months Of Preparation For A Complex Operation

The medical achievement required extensive coordination among dozens of specialists, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, pulmonologists, operating room nurses, intensive care physicians, heart-lung machine operators, and tissue-typing laboratory personnel.

One of the greatest challenges involved ensuring that doctors could respond immediately to an emergency while the robotic instruments were operating inside the patient’s chest.

Dr. Shai Fine, director of Beilinson’s Anesthesiology and Operating Rooms Division, explained that the medical team conducted detailed planning for ventilation, monitoring, blood circulation, and emergency intervention.

The hospital also carried out a dedicated simulation involving the surgical team before proceeding with the transplant.

As an additional precaution, the patient was connected to a heart-lung machine in advance, allowing physicians to respond rapidly if complications developed during the operation.

The historic transplant followed another important surgical milestone at Beilinson approximately one month earlier, when doctors successfully performed a minimally invasive lung transplant without robotic assistance.

That earlier operation involved just two small incisions, providing valuable experience that helped prepare the team for the subsequent robotic procedure.

More Than 1,000 Lung Transplants At Beilinson

Beilinson has long been one of Israel’s leading centers for lung transplantation, having performed more than 1,000 lung transplants over the years.

Dr. Osnat Livneh-Straichman, director of the hospital’s Institute of Pulmonary Diseases and Allergy, credited the achievement to years of accumulated experience and cooperation among medical specialists.

“Thanks to extensive teamwork and more than 1,000 lung transplants performed at Beilinson Medical Center, we have accumulated the expertise, knowledge and experience that enable us to provide the most advanced treatment to suitable patients,” she said.

Hospital officials hope the new technique will eventually become a routine option for eligible lung transplant patients, potentially sparing them much of the pain and lengthy recovery traditionally associated with the lifesaving surgery.

For now, the successful procedure represents a significant milestone for Israeli medicine and another example of the country’s growing capabilities in advanced surgical technology.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)