Israeli Surgeons Complete Unprecedented Robotic Operation on Pregnant Patient

Using traditional surgery, the patient would have had to deliver the baby prematurely, but the infant was born at term.

By Shula Rosen

Doctors at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva carried out a groundbreaking procedure that allowed a woman in late pregnancy to safely have intestinal surgery without opening her abdomen.

The hospital reported on Thursday that the team used a robotic system to remove damaged intestinal tissue without opening the abdomen—believed to be the first time such a method has been attempted on a patient this far along in pregnancy, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Using traditional surgery, the patient would have had to deliver the baby prematurely, but the infant was born at term.

The patient, 23-year-old Tzofiya Leibovich, had been hospitalized after severe abdominal pain intensified during her 32nd week of pregnancy.

Initial tests pointed to acute inflammation, which later caused her to develop a hole in her intestine.

Physicians subsequently diagnosed Crohn’s disease, prompting an urgent decision to move ahead with a robotic resection.

Leibovich recalled that she feared both premature delivery and the possibility of long-term complications. She said she could not sleep and was “screaming from unbearable pain,” adding that she hoped to avoid a large open incision and resulting scarring after surgery.

The surgical team was led by Dr. Ian White, head of the hospital’s colorectal surgery unit. Prof. Asnat Walfisch, who oversees the women’s hospital, and Prof. Eran Hadar, director of maternal-fetal medicine, joined him in the operating room along with dozens of staff members.

White said the team repeatedly reassessed whether to abandon the robotic approach. As long as both mother and fetus stayed stable, he said, they continued forward. Once the operation ended, her condition improved, though he acknowledged he remained anxious until the baby arrived weeks later. “This procedure had never been attempted before,” he said.

Leibovich later noted that she understood the chances of success were low. She also recalled that White, who is religious, came in on Shabbat to oversee her care—something she described as a moment that captured the gravity of what the team was attempting.