UAB Division of Transplantation Professor and Surgical Director of Kidney Transplantation, Michael Hanaway, M.D., has recently been featured on UAB MedCast.

During the episode, Hanaway discusses robotic surgery as an important tool for facilitating donor kidney nephrectomies and shares his expectation that it will become the new standard of care within the next two decades.

About the UAB Division of Transplantation and donor kidney nephrectomies

Throughout the episode, Hanaway explains that a donor kidney nephrectomy is a procedure usually performed with a living donor who aims to donate a kidney to a friend or loved one. He also clarifies that robotic surgery is a minimally invasive technique, similar to traditional laparoscopic surgery.

Hanaway mentions that both laparoscopic surgery and robotic surgery share many characteristics and have similar rates of post-operative pain, recovery, and days in the hospital. Hanaway notes that UAB Surgery transplant fellows have been actively learning this technique and are expected to benefit from this expertise in their future practices.

Hanaway discusses the potential of robotic surgery across the field of transplantation and emphasizes the advantages, such as increased mobility for the surgeon inside the abdomen and better visualization of more compact areas.

“A significant innovation for providers and patients is the new Intuitive DV five, a more advanced robotic surgical device that allows surgeons to feel the tension when performing minimally invasive procedures on tissues,” says Hanaway.

Hanaway notes the many potential developments going forward for transplantation surgery through robotic modalities and highlights that these advancements can continue to revolutionize the procedure, itself, along with the healing process for recipients.

To listen to the full episode, visit the UAB MedCast website.