A 45-day-old baby boy from Nashik became the youngest to undergo robotic kidney surgery at Saifee Hospital, Mumbai. The newborn, weighing just 2.94 kg, was born with severe respiratory and cardiac issues along with pelviureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction, a condition where urine flow from the kidney to the bladder is blocked.
The life-saving three-hour surgery was performed by Dr Hussain Kotawal, who corrected the baby’s malrotated kidney using advanced robotic technology. The obstruction, if left untreated, could have led to kidney failure, said doctor.
Although such surgeries are usually done at three to four months of age, the medical team decided to operate early due to the baby’s fragile condition. The parents, a homemaker mother and a rice shop owner father, were unaware of the seriousness of the issue until doctors explained the urgent need for surgery.
The condition could have been detected through anomaly scans during pregnancy but was missed, leading to a delayed diagnosis. One of the major challenges of the surgery was the baby’s tiny size, which left very little space to operate. Using robotic surgery, doctors created a small space inside the abdomen with low-pressure CO2 and operated within a 3-4 cm area.
Robotic surgery offered better precision and depth compared to laparoscopy, making it the preferred choice. The surgery successfully repositioned the kidney and cleared the urine blockage. A stent was placed to help drain urine and promote healing, which will be removed after six weeks. The baby was discharged within 36 hours and is now recovering well.
