In a landmark achievement, surgeons at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, have successfully performed India’s first robotic renal transplant in a government hospital, on a 45-year-old man suffering from kidney failure.
The surgery was led by Dr Virendra Bansal, Professor in the Department of Surgery and Chief Transplant Surgeon at AIIMS. The team used the Da Vinci Xi surgical system, an advanced robotic platform that offers three-dimensional visualization, precise movements, and enhanced dexterity, enabling surgeons to operate through smaller incisions with greater accuracy.
According to AIIMS, the procedure offers several advantages over conventional open surgery, including reduced blood loss, less pain, faster recovery, fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays. The patient, who had been on dialysis for six months, underwent the transplant on September 3, 2025. The robotic arms were used to connect the donor kidney’s blood vessels and ureter to the recipient’s system through a small 4–5 cm incision. The transplanted kidney began functioning immediately, and the patient’s creatinine level dropped to normal before discharge within ten days.
Following this success, AIIMS has completed four more robotic kidney transplants, marking a new chapter in minimally invasive surgery within India’s public healthcare system. Dr Bansal emphasized that the goal is to make cutting-edge procedures accessible and affordable. While private hospitals charge around ₹20 lakh for robotic kidney transplants, AIIMS offers the same at about ₹20,000–25,000, and even free for Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries.
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