In the liver transplant, performed a month ago at the Hepatobiliary Pancreatic and Transplant Center of the São José Local Health Unit (ULS), two surgical robots were used simultaneously, the institution said.

"While one team used a robot to extract part of the donor's liver, operating through small holes, another team used a second robot to extract the mother's liver, then placed the donated partial organ in this manner," it said in a statement.

According to the São José Health Unit, the donor and the recipient, who suffered from chronic liver disease and cancer, "recovered without problems."

In Europe, this was the second time a fully robotic living donor liver transplant had been performed. "The first time, in Modena, Italy, only one robot was used, so the donation and transplant procedures were performed sequentially, not simultaneously, as at the São José Health Unit," he emphasizes.

For Hugo Pinto Marques, director of the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Transplant Center, "robotics offers significant advantages in organ donation, due to its safety and the possibility of faster recovery."

"Robotic transplantation has shown promising results for the same reason, and Portugal is one of the pioneering countries in this technique," emphasizes Hugo Pinto Marques, quoted in the statement.

Rosa Valente de Matos, president of the São José Health Unit, emphasizes that this surgery is "another excellent example" of the institution's commitment "to innovation and, more specifically, to robotics, allowing the NHS to remain at the forefront of international healthcare."

"It's also a way to attract and retain healthcare professionals in the SNS," argues Rosa Valente de Matos.

In October 2024, the São José University Hospital (ULS) had already performed a living donor liver transplant for the first time in Portugal using this technology, but robotics had only been used for organ removal.

Robotic surgery in the National Health Service began in late 2019 at the then Central Lisbon University Hospital Center (CHULC). Meanwhile, a second system was acquired, allowing the São José University Hospital to pioneer the establishment of a Robotic Surgery Center.