BSMU Clinic performed a unique aorto-femoral bypass on the Da Vinci robot

BSMU Clinic doctors performed a unique aorto-femoral bypass using the Da Vinci robot. Such an operation is performed only in a few centers of Russia, and in the Volga Federal District and the Ural Federal District, this surgical treatment is carried out only by doctors of the Center for Robotic Surgery of the Clinic of the Bashkir State Medical University. Moreover, the Clinic's specialists were among the first in the country to use the Da Vinci robot for such interventions.

"We didn't just start doing these surgeries, we were pioneers in using robotic technology in vascular surgery. Previously, in order to install a new "prosthetic shunt" of the vessel, operations with large incisions were required. Large vessels affect several anatomical zones: the chest, the abdominal cavity, and the lower and upper limbs. Today's surgery is mini-invasive surgery: we do everything through punctures. After surgery, there are practically no noticeable scars and scars on the patient's body. And, of course, the achievement of our vascular, thoracic and cardiac surgeons - the entire team of the Clinic - is that the technologies of robotic surgery are absolutely free and available to residents of the entire Republic of Bashkortostan," the rector of BSMU, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Valentin Pavlov commented.

The operation of the 64-year-old patient was carried out by the head of the cardiac surgery department of the BSMU Clinic Arkady Dolganov.

For many years, the patient did not know about his illness. Atherosclerosis was detected during angiography at the BSMU Clinic, where significant damage to the vessels feeding the lower extremities was revealed: due to the accumulation of plaques, blood flow was significantly impaired.

"This operation is aimed at restoring blood flow in the iliac segment. We conduct a bypass to the femoral artery, and thereby restore blood flow," Arkady Dolganov, head of the cardiac surgery department of the BSMU Clinic explained.

Aorto-femoral bypass surgery is an operation to restore blood flow in the lower extremities with severe damage to the aorta and iliac arteries. The surgeon does not remove or replace the clogged diseased vessel, but creates a workaround. Blood begins to flow along a new path bypassing the affected area.

BSMU clinic confidently holds leadership in this direction. Such operations are carried out only in four cities of the country: Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar and Ufa. The scale and uniqueness of the Ufa school of surgery is confirmed by statistics: only in 2025, 17 robot-assisted aorto-femoral shunting was performed in the department. For comparison, even in the country's leading federal clinics, such interventions are still isolated.

Advantages of the da Vinci robotic system:

• precision of movements up to a millimeter;
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• High-resolution 3D visualization;
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• minimal tissue injury;
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• minimal blood loss;
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• reduced rehabilitation time.

According to many studies that compare the quality of life of patients after open and robot-assisted operations on the aorta and iliac arteries, patients who underwent interventions using robot-assisted techniques demonstrate higher rates of physical and psychological recovery, less severity of pain syndrome and better adaptation in everyday life.