First gynaecologic robotic surgery conducted at CHK

Performing a successful surgical procedure on Saturday, a team of surgeons from London removed the uterus of a patient from Balochistan by using the robotic surgery machine at the OT Complex of Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).

The UK team comprising Prof Shamim Khan of King’s College London and Dr Shanti Raju-Kankipati from the Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals performed the procedure along with a team of highly trained support staff from the CHK and the Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT).

The first of its kind in Pakistan, the robotic surgery was part of the concluding day of the three-day 6th Minimally Invasive Surgery Conference & Multidisciplinary Robotic Workshop, which was attended by surgeons and experts from all over the world as well as different cities of Pakistan at the SIUT.

Experts said the patient, a 55-year-old woman from Balochistan, had intractable bleeding acquiring multiple transfusions, and her problem was resolved through a medical procedure called hysterectomy. The patient will be discharged after 24 hours. Medical experts have described the successful procedure as a major breakthrough in the field of robotic surgery in Pakistan, particularly in the field of gynaecology.

They said this success will open new vistas of robotic surgery in the country. The SIUT had arranged an international workshop discussing the impact and benefit of robotic surgery in the field of urology, general surgery and gynaecology.

The three fields were exclusively discussed during the workshop, in which live surgery was also performed for three days and telecast live from the CHK’s OT Complex. The workshop was attended by a team of visiting surgeons from the UK along with surgeons from the CHK and the SIUT.

During the workshop, the surgeons also discussed the initial high cost of this state-of-the-art surgery, but they were of the opinion that keeping in view the parameters of less pain, less loss of blood and faster recovery as compared to traditional surgery, which becomes cost-effective in the long run, it underscores the need of greater use of robotic surgery in the highly selected centres in Pakistan.