KFSHRC Achieves Global First with Fully Robotic Living-donor Liver Transplant
King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) has achieved a global medical milestone by successfully performing a fully robotic liver transplant using organs from living donors, with robotic surgery applied throughout both donor liver removal and transplantation into the recipient.
The procedure is part of the hospital’s advanced robotic liver transplant program, which has now exceeded 100 robotic liver transplant surgeries. This case marks a world first, as the patient required two left liver lobes from two related living donors to ensure sufficient liver volume for the recipient, while maintaining safe residual liver volume for each donor.
The achievement demonstrates KFSHRC’s ability to deliver highly personalized treatment through a fully robotic pathway that includes both donor surgeries and the transplant itself. This approach expands the scope of what can be safely achieved in living-donor liver transplantation, while maintaining the highest standards of donor safety.
The surgery was completed successfully with no complications reported for either the donors or the recipient. Both donors were discharged from the hospital on the third day after surgery. The patient was transferred out of intensive care after seven days, completed the required inpatient recovery under medical supervision.
Professor Dieter Broering, Executive Director of Organ Transplantation, said the procedure reflects the gradual expansion of robotic surgery in liver transplantation, supported by years of accumulated expertise. He noted that advanced technologies are used to enhance surgical safety, accelerate recovery, and improve long-term quality of life, while ensuring strict protection of donor safety at every stage of care.
KFSHRC ranks first in the Middle East and Africa and fifteenth globally among the world’s top 250 academic medical centers for 2025. It also holds the highest valued healthcare brand in Saudi Arabia and the region, according to Brand Finance 2024, and is listed by Newsweek among the World’s Best Hospitals 2025, the World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2026, and the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals 2026.
