Antonio Alcaraz

About doctor Antonio Alcaraz

Dr. Antonio Alcaraz is a world renowned transplant surgeon. Every year he conducts more than 500 operations, 150 of them — kidney transplantations. To date, the doctor has performed over 1 200 organ transplantations.

The use of innovative approaches and extensive experience allowed him to achieve an unprecedented level of success: the survival rate during the first critical five years after operations performed by surgeon Alcaraz is more than 94%. This is the highest rate in the world. The figure is especially impressive given that many transplantations are performed on patients with difficult diagnoses who have been refused treatment in other medical centers.

Dr. Alcaraz was the first in the world to master several progressive surgical approaches:

• Surgery to remove a kidney from a donor using endoscopic transluminal surgery through the natural orifices of the body. In this case, the kidney was removed through the vagina.
• Removal and subsequent transplantation of the kidney using the LESS method (laparoscopic one-port surgery). The organ is removed through one small puncture in the navel.
• Robotic kidney transplantation using the Da Vinci surgical system.

All these techniques are minimally invasive, they are accompanied by a lower risk of blood loss and infection, do not leave scars and do not require long-term recovery. Most patients can return to normal life within 48 hours after surgery.

Among the patients of Dr. Alcaraz, not only adults, but also children. At the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital, he performed kidney transplantation for children weighing less than 10 kg. Transplantation at an early age helps to avoid the negative consequences that kidney failure has on the physical and mental development of the child.

Surgeon Alcaraz has performed a large number of robot-assisted surgeries. He mainly uses this approach for radical removal of the prostate gland. According to the doctor, he does not use the Da Vinci robot for kidney operations, as he relies solely on his experience. But at the same time, he often conducts master classes on robotic operations for novice surgeons.

Antonio Alcaraz has received several research grants from the Spanish government. He is the author of more than 150 scientific publications in domestic and foreign medical journals. Every year the doctor participates in more than 50 international conferences.

Doctor’s specialty

• Urology;
• Uro-oncology;
• Laparoscopic Surgery;
• Minimally invasive surgery;
• Kidney transplant.

Medical experience

• 1984 — Urological resident, hospital of Barcelona;
• 1993 — Researcher at Mayo medical center, Rochester, USA;
• 1990 — Urologist, clinical hospital of Barcelona;
• 2002 — Main transplant doctor of the kidney at the clinic;
• 2005 — Urologist, transplant surgeon at the Teknon medcenter.