Saudi hospital performs first fully robotic heart transplant in groundbreaking 2.5 hour operation

Saudi Arabia's King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre performed the first fully robotic heart transplant surgery on Thursday, Saudi media reported.

The surgery was performed on a 16-year-old suffering from end-stage heart failure and took two and a half hours under the aegis of the head of Cardiac Surgery and Director of the Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery Program, Dr. Feras Khaliel.

The team practiced the procedure virtually seven times over three days before performing it on the patient.

It is hoped that such innovation will shift heart transplant surgery away from traditional chest-opening procedures, which have long recovery periods lasting weeks or months.

Reducing recovery time and improving quality of life

According to the hospital, robotic technology is expected to allow for minimally invasive surgery, which should reduce pain, shorten recovery time, and minimize the risk of complications, significantly improving patients' quality of life and accelerating their recovery.

"The success of the world's first robotic heart transplant marks a transformative leap, not only for our institution but also for Saudi Arabia's journey toward global leadership in specialized medicine, in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which places innovation at the core of its efforts to improve quality of life," Dr. Khaliel said.

He also praised the "visionary" leadership of the Kingdom for providing "unwavering" support for developing the healthcare sector.