World’s first robotic closed abdominal surgery on pregnant patient performed in Israel

The Rabin Medical Center near Tel Aviv announced on Thursday that it had performed the world’s first robotic closed abdominal surgery on a pregnant patient. Tsofiya Leibovich (23) gave birth to a girl just weeks after the successful surgery was completed. Known as laparoscopy, the closed abdominal surgery is described by the Cleveland Clinic as a “minimally invasive procedure that looks inside your stomach or pelvis.”

"I didn’t want to deliver early, to be left with a large scar across my abdomen, and certainly not with a stoma," Leibovich recalled. "I was paralyzed, unable to sleep, screaming from unbearable pain."

The robotic surgery was performed after doctors at Rabin Medical Center's Maternal-Fetal Unit diagnosed Leibovich with acute intestinal inflammation. Her condition worsened, leading to a perforation in her intestine, and doctors decided to perform an emergency robotic resection.

Dr. Ian White, director of the Rabin Medical Center's Colorectal Surgery Unit, explained that such emergencies are typically treated with open abdominal surgery, but doing so in this case would likely have caused the baby to be born prematurely.

"At every stage we debated whether to continue or convert to open surgery," White explained. “As long as both mother and fetus remained stable, we pressed on. The operation succeeded, her pain subsided."

While the surgery was successful, White admitted that he was concerned for Leibovich until she later delivered without complications, noting that "this procedure had never been attempted before."

Leibovich said she was aware that "they would try laparoscopic surgery with very low chances of success, and most likely they’d have to open me up and deliver the baby.”

She was moved that Dr. White, who is religiously observant, came to the hospital during the Shabbat. "That’s when I realized how extraordinary this moment truly was," she said. Dozens of other medical personnel were involved in the complex surgery.

Israel is home to some of the world’s leading medical institutions. Earlier this year, Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv was ranked the 8th best hospital globally in Newsweek magazine's annual listing, an improvement from 9th place the year before. The survey evaluated 2,445 hospitals across roughly 30 countries. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, topped the list, followed by the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Toronto General – University Health Network in Canada. Sheba was one of the only non-U.S. hospitals to appear in the global top 10.

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