Surgeons removed a cancer-hit kidney from a patient around 500 km away<\/p>\n
A Nigerian medical team has performed West Africa\u2019s first tele-robotic surgery, remotely operating on a cancer patient from around 500 kilometers away, the hospital\u2019s press service said on Sunday.\u00a0
\nThe procedure, a right radical nephrectomy, involved removing a kidney affected by a cancerous tumor from a patient at Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja. Surgeons at Redeemer\u2019s Health Village (RHV) in Mowe, Ogun State, controlled the robotic system remotely via an internet connection, Punch reported on Monday. The operation was carried out in collaboration with RoboMed Global.
\n\u201cWe were able to operate on a patient in Abuja, 500 kilometers away. We were able to operate on a patient with a kidney tumor, a cancerous tumor. And so that was successful,\u201d Prof. Obi Davies-Ekwenna, the robotic surgeon who led the procedure, said. The technology allows specialists to control surgical equipment from another location, potentially giving patients access to surgeons elsewhere in Nigeria or abroad.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a huge breakthrough, and then of course, it is the first time telesurgery has been done in West Africa,\u201d RHV CEO Adedamola Dada said, as quoted by Punch. He identified a shortage of trained personnel as a key obstacle to the wider use of robotic surgery in Nigeria and urged the government to support training for surgeons, nurses and biomedical engineers.
\nSeveral days earlier, RHV announced that it had completed its first robotic surgery, a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, a procedure to remove the prostate gland. The hospital said the operation was part of efforts to expand access to advanced surgical care in Nigeria.
\nOther West African countries have also recently reported complex surgical procedures. Earlier this month, a team of Malian doctors successfully separated conjoined twin girls in an operation that lasted several hours in Bamako.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Senegal, meanwhile, has begun locally producing DREPAF, a generic version of hydroxyurea used to treat sickle cell disease. Manufactured by Teranga Pharma, it has been described as the first generic hydroxyurea treatment produced in Africa, reducing reliance on more expensive imported drugs.<\/p>\n
@redeemershealthvillage The moment we realised we had just made history. \u266c original sound – RHV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Surgeons removed a cancer-hit kidney from a patient around 500 km away A Nigerian medical team has performed West Africa\u2019s first tele-robotic surgery, remotely operating on a cancer patient from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t