Irkutsk State Regional Children's Clinical Hospital

History

2024: Carrying out the first operation in Russia to remove stones from the kidneys with the help of a robot surgeon

In Russia, for the first time, a robot-assisted operation was carried out to remove a stone from a child's ureter using intraoperative ultrasound. The procedure in July 2024 was successfully carried out by specialists from the Irkutsk State Regional Children's Clinical Hospital.

The patient developed urolithiasis in extreme form against the background of cerebral palsy. A large stone formed in the upper third of the left ureter, causing obstruction of urine outflow from the left kidney, pelvis dilation, acute pain and infection. Doctors decided to carry out a ureterolitotomy - removing the stone through surgery.

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As the operating surgeon, the head physician of the hospital, Yury Kozlov, noted, this is a very difficult procedure, since the ureter in children is small. It was possible to delicately remove the stone thanks to the combination of robot-assisted surgery and intraoperative ultrasonic navigation. These two technologies were first used in Russia in a child.

Increased maneuverability of robotic instruments and 3D imaging provided a clear picture of the target anatomy. An ultrasonic micro-sensor was placed above the ureter to detect the stone. Robotic scissors cut the front wall of the ureter exactly above the stone and removed it with an atraumatic clamp. After the defect was sutured in the transverse direction to prevent narrowing.

The operation took place without complications, the patient is under the supervision of doctors. The use of robotic surgeons opens up new possibilities in the treatment of urolithiasis in children and allows complex procedures at a high level with minimal trauma. It is expected that in the future such operations will become more widely available in leading medical centers in Russia.^[1]

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