Riyadh: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) has performed the world's first liver transplant using a single-port robotic system in a six-year-old boy suffering from recurrent acute liver failure. The transplant was made possible after the child's father donated the left lobe of his liver. The procedure was completed successfully, with the child showing good early recovery, the liver graft functioning well, and no complications observed.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the patient had Wolcott-Rallison syndrome, a rare inherited disorder that causes early-onset diabetes and recurrent episodes of acute liver failure, placing him at repeated, life-threatening risk. The transplant addressed the disease's most serious complication, offering the boy a chance at a more stable life while easing the medical and emotional burden on his family. He will continue to receive follow-up care for his underlying genetic condition and diabetes.
A single-port robotic system allows surgeons to introduce precision surgical instruments and a high-definition 3D camera through one small incision, unlike conventional multi-port robotic surgery, which requires several access points. Working through this single port, surgeons carried out the most delicate stages of the transplant inside the child's body, where the confined surgical field required extremely precise handling of blood vessels and bile ducts. The approach helped reduce surgical impact, ease pain, and shorten recovery time and hospital stay.
This milestone builds on a pioneering path KFSHRC began in 2023 with the world's first fully robotic liver transplant, which has since grown into an integrated programme with 165 cases performed to date, supported by experience from more than 1,700 robotic living-donor liver resections. This accumulated expertise reflects the hospital's ability to turn landmark achievements into advanced clinical programmes that change the course of entire families' lives, expanding the use of robotics in highly complex transplant surgery and strengthening Saudi Arabia's position in medical innovation and healthcare excellence.
Ranked first in the Middle East and Africa and 12th globally among the world's top 250 academic medical centres for 2026, KFSHRC was also recognised as the most valuable healthcare brand in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for 2026 by Brand Finance. It was also listed by Newsweek among the World's Best Hospitals, World's Best Smart Hospitals, and World's Best Specialised Hospitals for 2026.