Rambam Surgeons Perform Landmark Robotic Tumor Removal on 7-Year-Old
Doctors at Rambam Health Care Campus successfully removed a 10-centimeter chest tumor from a seven-year-old boy using the da Vinci robotic system in an unprecedented pediatric procedure.
A medical team at Rambam Health Care Campus successfully performed a complex and unprecedented robotic surgery to remove a 10-centimeter tumor from the chest of a seven-year-old boy from the north of Israel.
According to the boy's mother, the child showed no symptoms and did not complain of any pain, functioning normally like any child of his age. The massive growth was discovered incidentally in June during imaging tests performed after a minor, harmless chest protrusion was noticed.
Following comprehensive examinations and multidisciplinary consultations involving surgeons, vascular specialists, and radiologists, the medical team opted for an advanced surgical strategy utilizing the da Vinci robotic system. This marked the first time the procedure was performed on such a young patient at Rambam.
Dr. Amit Katz, head of the thoracic surgery department, noted that the main challenge was safely separating the tumor from the esophagus, spine, and aorta. Traditional open-chest surgery would have caused severe trauma and prolonged recovery, but robotic technology provided the necessary precision to operate near critical blood vessels without harming them.
The successful operation took place in early October, resulting in the complete removal of the tumor. Thanks to the minimally invasive approach through tiny incisions, the boy was discharged within 48 hours and returned to his second-grade classes and friends less than a week and a half later.
