The world’s first fully robotic heart transplant has been successfully completed at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Saudi Arabia.
The groundbreaking procedure was performed on a 16-year-old patient with end-stage heart failure and took two and a half hours to complete.
Led by Dr. Feras Khaliel, head of Cardiac Surgery and director of the Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery Program at KFSHRC, the medical team conducted the surgery after weeks of intense preparation.
The team practiced the operation virtually seven times over three days to ensure precision and reduce risks.
This robotic technique offers significant benefits, including reduced pain, shorter recovery times, and fewer complications by avoiding the traditional chest opening method.
Dr. Majid Al-Fayyad, CEO of KFSHRC, praised the surgery as a transformative advancement in heart transplant procedures, a field first pioneered in the 1960s. He credited the Saudi leadership’s commitment to healthcare development for this achievement.
He emphasized that this success aligns with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which prioritizes healthcare innovation to improve quality of life both locally and globally.