SIUT opens first Robotic Surgery Unit in Sukkur

KARACHI:

The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) and the Sindh government have established the First Robotic Surgery Unit at Sukkur.

The centre of excellence in robotic surgery was inaugurated on Saturday by the Sindh Health Minister, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho at the SIUT Chablani Medical Centre, Sukkur.

Speaking on the occasion, the health minister said, “It is a great honour for me to be here with my mentor and my teacher “Prof. Adib Rizvi”.

She said, “We are making efforts to improve health services in Sindh and provide a state-of-the-art Robotic Surgery facility at the doorsteps of patients. Our MNAs and MPAs are here to provide full support to SIUT.”

She pointed out that Robotic Surgery is considered the future of Surgical Sciences and it will also benefit thousands of patients in surrounding cities of Sukkur including Larkana, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze and Benazirabad.

Dr Adib Rizvi Director SIUT highlighted the SIUT ethos which is “Free treatment with dignity”.

He said that the centre of excellence in Robotic Surgery is established at Sukkur as part of the SIUT philosophy to remain at the cutting edge of technology for the benefit of the common people.

He said it is the shining example of community government partnership and SIUT plans to set up a regional robotic training centre to train the next generation of surgeons both from the region as well as from across the country.

On this occasion, the SIUT Robotic Surgery expert, Dr Rehan Mohsin said that Robotic procedures have several benefits to the patients including significantly less scar, less pain, less blood loss, less risk of infection, shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery time, and better clinical outcomes in many cases.

The unit at Sukkur has started with Urological Surgeries to be followed by colorectal and gynaecological surgeries.

The cost of each surgery to SIUT is around Rs2 lakh but these costs far outweigh the benefit to the patients and is also free of cost for the patient.

Dr Rehan also explained the operative procedure.

He said the surgeon sits at a controlling console near the patient.

An assistant surgeon is at the bedside next to the patient.

Through a video camera, the surgeon watches the operative field and controls several robotic arms from the console, which replicate the surgeon’s movements.

The operation is performed laparoscopically, meaning it is less invasive because it requires small punctures rather than large incisions.

That means less time is required to heal.

Most patients return to normal activity in just two to three weeks instead of the six to eight weeks, common in standard open surgeries.

 Thus far, more than 1,200 Robotic Surgeries have been performed at SIUT Karachi.

 The SIUT with the help of the Sindh government has acquired two Robotic Surgical Units from Cambridge Medical Robotics (CMR).