For the first time in the world Italian doctors have carried out a robotically-assisted pancreatic transplant. This operation "creates new prospects for the treatment of diabetics," because its "mini-invasive" nature strongly reduces post-operation complications, the team at the university hospital in Pisa, Italy, said.

The transplant was carried out on September 27, 2010 on a 43-year-old mother of two who had suffered from Type I diabetes since she was 24 years old and had already had a kidney transplant. The patient suffered no complications from the three-hour operation and left the hospital on October 30, 2010. Pancreatic transplants have been very invasive until now because of the organ’s vascular structure and the fragility of diabetic patients, who in 50 percent of cases develop post-operative problems.