KARACHI: A three-day international conference on robotic surgery in the field of urology began at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) on Monday in which surgeons and experts from the country and abroad turned out in a good number.

Organisers said a number of eminent surgeons from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands with a team of SIUT urologists took part in live operating sessions.

The provincial health secretary was among the audience who witnessed the live surgery session on the opening day of the conference.

Those surgeries were transmitted through real time video link at the conference attracting the audience present in the impressive gathering on the premises.

Surgeons from UK and Netherlands take part in live operating sessions

A number of lectures and discussions were held during the conference, while the live surgery was conducted at the new OT Complex in the Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital.

Inaugurating the conference, Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi, SIUT director, highlighted the merits of minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery and declared it the “leading edge technology”, which had opened new avenues of providing relief and comfort to the patients undergoing those procedures.

He said the SIUT had always been committed to acquiring and introducing new technologies for the wellbeing of its patients.

“The SIUT has come a long way in this regard,” he said, adding that the hospital had never shut its door to the new medical landscape that was positively changing in the modern countries.

“We have always tried to get best of those technologies, which are good for our people who have every right to live a healthy and decent life,” said Prof Rizvi.

Medical experts, who discussed various aspects of robotic surgery, said the new technology was based on the procedure which was least painful with less blood loss, limited risk of infection, shorter stays in hospital, quick recovery time and above all better clinical outcome in many cases.

The experts said so far some 200 surgical cases had been performed through robotic surgery by the SIUT and the Civil Hospital team in the past six months, and, they included the cases of urological disorder, which were performed at the SIUT.

The visiting surgeons who were there to take part in the conference included Prof M. Shamim Khan from Kings College London, Prof Matin Sheriff from Medway Maritime Hospital Kent, Dr Faiz Mumtaz from Royal Free Hospital London, Dr Tariq Tasaddaq from Bedford Hospital, and Dr Axel Bex from the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam.

Dr Asad Shahzad and Dr Rehan Mohsin were faculty from the SIUT.

The conference would feature various sessions in which workshops, live robotic surgeries, panel discussions and training sessions would be conducted.

“This is one huge occasion,” said an organiser, adding that the event would be an opportunity for the medical fraternity in the country to take maximum benefit from it.

“A galaxy of experts in this field is present under the one roof over here and such an opportunity offers everything to young surgeons to excel in the profession,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2018