KARACHI: Non-surgical coronary procedures on the rise
By Nizamuddin Siddiqui
KARACHI, Jan 19: In 1998 only about 2,500 non-surgical coronary procedures were performed in the country. However, last year more than 20,000 such procedures were done, which shows that non-surgical coronary procedures have not only taken a root in Pakistan but many patients and doctors actually prefer them over surgical operations, a well-placed source said.
According to Dr Naseeruddin Ahmed, the eight-fold increase in non-surgical procedures within a four-year period is due to enhanced awareness about the said techniques. “Because of increased awareness both among patients and doctors more and more people who, in the course of their treatment would have undergone surgical operations, are opting for non-surgical procedures.”
Talking to Dawn during a break in an international workshop on Sunday, he claimed that this was a good trend. “You know a patient cannot undergo surgical operation twice or thrice and complications can also arise. But he or she can safely go for non-surgical procedures several times if need be.”
Dr Ahmed, who belongs to a pharmaceutical company, was of the view that surgical operations should be seen as a last resort.
Answering a question, he said in absolute terms non-surgical procedures cost more today than the surgical operations. “But this will not always be the case.”
A few years ago, a surgical procedure in the US cost up to $1,400 but today the same costs something like $750, said Dr Ahmed. “This shows that the cost of non-surgical procedures, though still on the higher side when compared to surgical operations, is already coming down. This trend is likely to continue in the near future.”
Dr Ahmed said that according to some scientific studies non-surgical procedures had more value than surgical operations in the long term.
Prof Azhar Masood Faruqui — executive director of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and chief organizer of the international workshop — expressed similar views. He stated that Pakistani doctors should be aware of, and also abreast of, the latest procedures being developed.
“Cost is one factor. There are other factors like the patients’ choice which too should be taken into account in such matters. So our philosophy is that the NICVD should be able to perform all kinds of procedures and operations. And it should be up to the patients to choose which techniques they wanted performed as per the prognoses etc.
“That’s why we have held this important event which deals with non-surgical procedures.”
Prof Faruqui added that there shouldn’t be an abuse of a technique or group of techniques. “This is where the chiefs of the institutions and professional bodies come in. They should ensure that no one procedure was wrongly used or overused.”
He said the increased use of non-surgical procedures showed that it nowadays took very little time to transfer technology from the western countries as compared to, say, the 70s.
“Previously it used to take between 20 to 25 years for a particular procedure or technique to reach the developing countries. But now some stents and also some techniques have been known to have reached countries like Pakistan within a few months. All this has implications for delivery of healthcare in Pakistan,” he said.
