Xavier suffered from pulmonary fibrosis for 18 years, he needed a lung transplant and its operation has become a milestone, as it is carried out fully robotized. “I understood that anything that was done with a robot or with machinery always had greater precision than the human hand,” explained the man who is already the first patient transplanted with this technique.

Normally, a surgery of this type requires a 30-centimeter incision in the thorax, but, according to Albert Jauregui, head of thoracic surgery and lung transplantation at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, with this revolutionary technique, “instead of doing such a big cut between the ribs and separate the sternum and open the thorax completely,” only eight centimeters are needed.

“What we do is deflate this organ to be able to insert it Inside the body, this causes the size of the organ to change drastically and to be much smaller,” he specified. The incision is made in the lower part of the sternum and through four other small holes through which the robot’s arms are inserted. Da Vinci’, the lungs are connected to the body.

Being a less invasive surgery, reduces pain and improves the postoperative period. “I cannot evaluate the issue of pain because I have not had it”, the patient has in fact affirmed, who maintains that the pain “has been zero”. Thus, thanks to this advance, Xavier is already breathing easy.