WORLD'S First Robotic Assisted Kidney Transplant Performed at Saint Barnabas Medi...( LIVINGSTON N.J. June 4 /- Transplant ...),Health

LIVINGSTON, N.J., June 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Transplant surgeon, Stuart R. Geffner, M.D., Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Surgery, Saint Barnabas Health Care System Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division, is the first in the world to use the Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci(TM) Surgical System to successfully implant a kidney into a living recipient. This procedure revolutionizes kidney transplant surgery, taking an open procedure to an advanced form of laparoscopic surgery.

"The robotic transplant requires a 5 cm incision which is just large enough to introduce the kidney into the recipient's body. It is approximately one-third the size of a conventional 'open' transplant incision. I believe that this will be beneficial to the patient in terms of quicker recovery, as well as a lower incidence of the most frequent post-operative complications -- wound infection and bleeding," states Dr. Geffner.

For Jim and Maureen Schrader, it was transformational.

When Jim and Maureen met five years ago, they knew they were a perfect love match but they never realized just how perfect. A Type 1 diabetic since the age of 28, Maureen began to get sick around Christmas 2007. Over the ensuing months, her health deteriorated. One afternoon in early spring, her husband happened to stop home and found her passed out close to death on the floor. Soon after, doctors told her that her kidneys had failed and that she would need to have dialysis until a kidney donor was found.

They were referred to The Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Once at the hospital, they met the transplant team and learned about the road ahead. They discussed all of their options, transplant list as well as the Living Donor Institute. Jim was excited about the Living Donor Institute option where individuals interested in donating a kidney, whether a relation or altruistic donor, could regist
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