Lahore: To begin robotic surgery, a new minimally invasive procedure, the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) has moved a PC-I of the project to the Punjab health department. This makes the Mayo Hospital, which is attached, the first public sector teaching institution in the province to offer this cutting-edge treatment to patients with a “100pc success rate.”
Before, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) in Karachi employed this facility. Since 2012, the surgeons there have completed more than 1,500 robotic procedures related to urology. According to an official with knowledge of the matter, the initiative is a component of the recent, significant reforms carried out by the provincial government led by Maryam Nawaz. The goal of these reforms is to provide public sector medical institutes with state-of-the-art general surgery technologies, following the lead of several developed nations, including India.
According to the official, the Mayo Hospital has also brought in two highly skilled robotic surgeons from the private sector to oversee the project: assistant professors Drs. Usman Ismail Butt and Umar Warraich. Additionally, a robotic surgical technician named Abdul Rehman has been employed. He continues, “The Punjab Public Service Commission was tasked with appointing Mr. Rehman through the government-created BS-17 post.”Giving the history of the move, the official states that robotic surgery has transformed medicine by providing patients with a less intrusive option to conventional surgeries.
He claims that because over 450 robotic surgeries have been carried out by various private sector healthcare facilities in Lahore in recent years—with a 100 percent success rate thus far—robotic surgery is being accepted gradually.
Plan calls for low-cost, high-precision procedures in the public sector
Surgeons may now execute a greater variety of treatments thanks in part to the emergence of sophisticated robotic equipment in the private health sector, like the CMR Surgical Robotic System.
According to the official, the robotic surgical project was made successful in large part by KEMU Vice Chancellor Prof. Mahmood Ayyaz, who contributed his experience and a well-trained crew. in a hospital run by the private sector.
According to him, patients wanting robotic surgery came from all over Pakistan as well as Afghanistan and India, and Prof. Ayaz’s staff catered to them. More than 95% of these patients, according to the official, have outstanding results from robotic surgery.
The first robotic adrenalectomy in Pakistan was successfully completed by Prof. Ayyaz and his team, and this achievement opened the door for the robotic surgical project at the Mayo Clinic.
In an effort to establish Mayo Hospital as a center for robotic surgeons in the public sector, the KEMU Venture Capital convened a number of meetings at the university after the robotic surgical system was introduced in the private sector with significant investments.
The official goes on to claim that while the Mayo Hospital project will be “unique” in that it will offer robotic treatments in general surgery, gynecology, and urology simultaneously, Karachi’s SIUT only offers robotic surgical services in the specialty of urology. Major surgeries for the gallbladder, appendix, small and large intestines, uterus, ovaries, prostate, kidneys, and other organs will be provided by the hospital.
The institute houses numerous departments and competent FCPS medics; if the plan comes to pass, it will also contribute to the mass production of highly trained young surgeons, according to official expectations.
He claims that there are several advantages to robotic surgery for patients, such as less discomfort and scars, a lower chance of problems, a quick recovery, amazing accuracy and precision, a lower need for blood transfusions and loss of blood, low operating costs, and positive surgical outcomes.
