Francesc Vigués

Three hundred robotic kidney transplants in just eight years. This is the milestone achieved by Bellvitge University Hospital, becoming one of the European reference centers in this minimally invasive technique. Since the first procedure in 2018, robotic surgery has enabled surgeons to perform highly complex transplants with greater precision, fewer complications, and faster patient recovery. The program has also placed Bellvitge at the forefront of living-donor kidney transplants in Spain: in 2025 alone, the center performed 207 kidney transplants, 43 of which were from living donors, all using robotic surgery

The team achieved another international milestone in 2020 by performing the world's first orthotopic kidney transplant with robotic surgery, a highly complex intervention in which the new kidney is implanted in the same place as the diseased organ. Behind this program is Dr. Francesc Vigués, who led its launch in 2018. A graduate in Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a specialist in Urology trained at Bellvitge Hospital, he holds a doctorate in Medicine from the University of Barcelona, has been certified in robotic surgery since 2009, and is an associate professor at the University of Barcelona.