The Mãe de Deus Hospital in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, took part in one of the longest-distance telesurgeries ever performed, connecting the Brazilian city to Wuhan, China.

The procedure was conducted by general and robotic surgeon Norberto Martins from Wuhan, where he remotely performed a cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) on a patient who was at the Brazilian hospital. The intervention took place at the invitation of MicroPort, the manufacturer of the Toumai surgical robot.

The surgery lasted approximately one and a half hours and was completed successfully. In Porto Alegre, the procedure was monitored in the operating theatre by the surgery service coordinator, Guilherme Pesce.

The operation was part of the scientific programme of the 10th Academic Congress of the Chinese Section of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (CCIHPBA), held between 18 and 24 May in the Chinese city of Wuhan. With a distance of approximately 18,900 kilometres between Wuhan and Porto Alegre, the procedure stands out as one of the longest-distance remote surgeries ever performed worldwide.

(Source: Correio do Povo, on 21 May)