For the first time in Tucson, and across the Banner Health system, a living donor kidney removal has been performed using robotic surgery. The procedure was completed at Banner – University Medicine Tucson by faculty from the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson's Department of Surgery, expanding access to minimally invasive transplant care for patients across southern Arizona and the six western states Banner Health serves.

The operation was led by Dr. Ramesh Batra, division chief of abdominal transplant surgery at the College of Medicine – Tucson. Batra specializes in liver and kidney transplantation, living donor procedures, transplant ethics, artificial intelligence and surgical innovation. 

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In a robotic-assisted living donor nephrectomy, surgeons use robotic technology to remove a kidney from a living donor for transplantation into a recipient. Where traditional open surgery requires a large incision to give surgeons a full view of the donor's organs, the robotic approach operates through smaller incisions with greater precision. Donors experience less pain and recover faster, getting back to work and daily life sooner than they would following open surgery. For someone taking time away from a job or family to give an organ to another person, that difference is not small.

The procedure's arrival in Tucson also addresses a practical gap. Living donors in Southern Arizona previously had to travel out of the region for this option, on top of managing time away from work and childcare. With the procedure now available locally, donors can recover at home, with their families close by, through what is already a significant physical and emotional experience.

"This milestone reflects our commitment to bringing advanced, patient-centered surgical care to Arizona," said Dr. Geoffrey Gurtner, chair of the Department of Surgery. "I am certain this is just the first of many innovative, patient-centric procedures that Dr. Batra's team will introduce to Arizona."

The donor and recipient were sisters Paula Haywood and Clarissa Shosie. Shosie, 34, was diagnosed with lupus as a teenager. As her kidney function declined, Haywood stepped forward to be evaluated as a direct living donor.

"The family has been through lupus before. There's no way we're going to lose someone else, and if I can help my sister, I will," Haywood said.

Before surgery, the transplant team honored Haywood with a hero walk through the hospital - a tradition that recognizes the generosity of living organ donors and the weight of the choice they make. After the procedure, Haywood described what that moment felt like.

"That was the moment I could exhale. We did it. My sister and I could breathe and say, 'It's done,'" she said. 

Living kidney donation is open to family members, friends or strangers following a medical evaluation. The team's goal is to expand robotic techniques across all transplant procedures going forward.

"Living kidney donors make a remarkable, selfless choice, and we are committed to honoring that gift through innovative robotic technology and exceptional patient care," Batra said.

A version of this story originally appeared on the Department of Surgery website.