Kauvery Hospital, Chennai, has successfully performed a robotic Frey’s procedure on a 12-year-old girl suffering from recurrent chronic pancreatitis, caused by a congenital pancreatic abnormality.

The child had experienced repeated episodes of severe abdominal pain and pancreatitis for several years due to pancreatic divisum, a condition in which pancreatic ducts fail to fuse normally during fetal development. Despite multiple endoscopic interventions and pancreatic duct stenting procedures, her symptoms persisted.

The surgery involved robotic pancreatic reconstruction using the Da Vinci robotic surgical system.

The procedure was led by Senthil Gnanasekaran, Clinical Lead, Abdominal Organ Transplant and HPB Surgery, along with Piyush Bawane, Clinical Lead, Medical Gastroenterology.

Chronic pancreatitis in children could affect the quality of life due to repeated pain episodes, hospital admissions, and long-term pancreatic damage.

Doctors said the robotic platform enabled precise reconstruction through a minimally invasive approach.