DOHA: Qatar recently became the first country in the region to do a robotic ENT procedure. The surgery was made possible by the Qatar Robotic Surgery Center (QRSC), a partnership between Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) and Hamad Medical Corporation, which has helped improve the quality of surgical care here.
"The ENT (Ear Nose Throat) procedure was done two weeks ago for tongue reduction," said Dr Abdulla Al Ansari, Chairman of Surgery at Hamad Medical Corporation and Director of the Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre.
"We started robotic procedures with urology, cardiovascular and general surgery. Recently we went to ENT as we needed to know about the scope of robotic procedures in ENT -- head and neck. We found there was much area for development," he told The Peninsula at the sidelines of Pumps and Pipes Conference.
One of the main advantages of Robotic procedure in ENT is the fact that no incision needs to be made to do the procedure.
"Robots can go deep inside through the mouth. The surgery was performed to remove parts of tongue usually done on obese people who have trouble in breathing. The surgery makes more space for air passage making respiration easier."
"This is the first procedure done in the region and very few similar surgeries are done in Europe. For the past six months we have been studying the scope of the procedure and after September, we will see more of similar procedures in the ENT specialisation," he said.
QRSC will start robotic paediatric surgeries in May with trainings set to begin soon. So far, QRSC has trained 150 clinicians in basic laparoscopy and some 37 doctors and seven nurses in robotic surgeries.
Robotic surgery is a minimal invasive surgical approach using the robotic daVinci master-slave system. The surgeon is in full control of the surgery, but profits from an advanced 3D view and enhanced precision.
However, the patient benefits the most from a robotic procedure, as he experiences less traumatic injury, post procedural pain and risk and recovery becomes faster.
© The Peninsula 2011
