World First! Chiang Mai University Medical School Successfully Performs Robot-Assisted Liver Surgery from Living Donor
Chiang Mai University surgeons successfully performed the world's first robot-assisted liver transplant from a living donor using the Hugo robotic system, with a mother donating her left lobe to her 9-year-old daughter with severe cirrhosis
In a world first, the Faculty of Medicine at Chiang Mai University successfully used the HugoTM robotic system to perform liver surgery harvesting from a living donor, marking a major milestone in Thai liver transplantation.
At 9:30 AM on May 27, 2025 on the 15th floor of the Chaleam Phrakiat Building at Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Medicine, Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Narendra Chotiros announced the successful use of the HUGO robotic system for living donor liver surgery. The surgical team was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vorkitti Labhpisetkpun and Dr. Asara Thepbancharchai, professors in the Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery at CMU's Faculty of Medicine.
The patient, Kanyanpha Panyanoi (U'm I'm), along with her mother Nan U, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the doctors and medical team who successfully treated her liver disease. U'm I'm shared her emotional journey, revealing that before surgery she had told her mother to be mentally prepared, as she wasn't certain she would see her again. She also expressed a simple hope to taste iced tea again and understand its flavor. "I finally got to taste iced tea today, and it was delicious," she said. U'm I'm concluded by expressing her determination to become a doctor herself, so she could treat patients and help them recover as her own doctors had helped her.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vorkitti Labhpisetkpun and Dr. Asara Thepbancharchai announced that CMU's Faculty of Medicine has achieved a significant advancement in international surgical practice. The transplant surgical team successfully used the HugoTM Robotic-Assisted Surgery (RAS) system to perform robotic-assisted living donor left hepatectomy (removal of the left lobe from a living donor) for transplantation to patients with cirrhosis, both in pediatric and adult patients. Two cases have been successfully completed in Thailand.
This achievement marks the world's first use of the HugoTM robotic system for living donor liver surgery and Thailand's first robotic-assisted liver transplant from a living donor. This represents an innovative application of robotic technology to highly complex surgical procedures requiring exceptional precision and skill, thereby enhancing safety for both donors and recipients.
The first case involved a 40-year-old mother who donated liver to save her 9-year-old daughter, who suffered from congenital biliary atresia (narrowing of the bile ducts from birth). The daughter had undergone a Kasai procedure in infancy to create an alternative bile drainage route, but later developed severe cirrhosis complicated by portal hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome, which affected her respiratory system causing low blood oxygen levels requiring home oxygen support. Liver transplantation was medically indicated to improve her chances of long-term survival and quality of life.
The medical team planned a living donor liver transplant in which the mother underwent HugoTM robotic-assisted left hepatectomy, making it the world's first use of the HugoTM system for living donor liver harvest and Thailand's first such robotic-assisted procedure for liver transplantation.
The second case involved a 27-year-old daughter who donated liver to save her 61-year-old father.
