Four-Year-Old Ziad's dreams of "going to a real school" may soon come true, thanks to a new advancement in liver transplant surgery. Ziad became the first recipient of liver transplant through a robotic surgery in India, conducted at Medanta Medicity.

Though Ziad's family hails from Bellary district in Karnataka, they are currently based in Muscat. At the age of three, he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Tyrosinemia, which results in shortage of enzymes to break down proteins, making the patient prone to liver cancer. Ziad also has a history of rickets  diagnosed at the age of two.

Visibly relieved, Ziad's mother Mehezabeen said, "As he was always going in and out of hospitals, we were not able to send him to a regular school. It's only been three weeks since the surgery, and Ziad is already asking me if he can join a real school from the next academic season."

Ziad's maternal uncle,

Rahmatullah, donated the liver because his parents did not

turn out to be a match.

During the robotic procedure, the surgeon controls all the steps at the console, making normal movements of surgery that are passed on to the four arms of the robot performing the surgery. Explaining the advantages of the process, Dr A S Soin, chairman of the liver institute at Medanta, said, "Using a robot for a liver transplant surgery enhances the precision and safety as robotic instruments have a much better range of movement, when compared to human wrists and fingers."

The robot provides a three-dimensional view of the body's insides, helping surgeons visualise the details better. The robotic arms also work through small

5-10 mm holes, making surgery less painful and operative

scars smaller.

Dr Neelam Mohan, director of Paediatric Hepatology at the institute, said, "In an open surgery, donors are extremely apprehensive and the operative risks are higher. Here, the blood loss is at least 30 per cent less, and the surgery is cleaner."

For surgeons, the robotic

procedure also reduces the strain of surgical fatigue.

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