Key points
- Lviv doctors first in Ukraine saved the kidney of an eight‑year‑old boy with the Senhance surgical robot.
- The operation was performed together with the hospital team by Professor Narimantas Evaldas Samalavičius from Vilnius University, who has carried out over 1,000 robotic interventions.
- The boy from Ternopil region was diagnosed with hydronephrosis – kidney damage caused by urine retention.
- Senhance controls the camera by the surgeon’s eye movements and works with 3‑mm diameter instruments.
- Specialists now perform about two interventions per week using Senhance.
At the St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv, for the first time in Ukraine performed a surgery using the Senhance robotic surgical system – saving the kidney of an eight‑year‑old boy from Ternopil region.
The parents learned about their son’s illness by chance during a routine ultrasound: doctors noticed that one of the boy’s kidneys was enlarged. Specialists at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital diagnosed hydronephrosis, a disease that leads to urine retention in the kidney and gradual organ damage up to complete destruction.
To operate the boy and four other hospital patients, Professor Narimantas Evaldas Samalavičius from Vilnius University – a specialist in minimally invasive and robotic surgery who has performed over 1,000 robotic interventions – came to Lviv for a week.
The operations were carried out jointly with Lviv surgeons using the Senhance system.
During the procedure, doctors identified the narrowing site and removed the defective kidney segment, then reconstructed the organ to restore its function.
The Senhance system has built‑in artificial intelligence that directs the camera by the surgeon’s eye movements, allowing work with 3‑mm diameter instruments without damaging vessels.
The Lithuanian professor’s visit also aimed to assess the skills of the Lviv robotic team and its ability to independently perform interventions with Senhance.
This hospital is of European type. I am glad that, despite the tense situation in Ukraine, one of the most advanced robotic systems is starting to work here. It is about moving together with world medicine, reducing human error, rapid recovery and patient rehabilitation after intervention.
– Narimantas Evaldas Samalavičius.
Currently, specialists at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital perform about two interventions per week using Senhance.
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