LOC10:30
07:30 GMT
News report by Sara Al-Mukhaizeem
KUWAIT, April 24 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti doctors continue to prove their high professional competence and consistent progress through achievements in complex surgeries, and outstanding medical innovations and research.
A number of Kuwaiti doctors have in recent years achieved notable regional and global accomplishments conducted in local hospitals, and were discussed in regional and international conferences, leaving a distinct mark on the progress of global medical development.
In April, Kuwait recorded an unprecedented achievement when the surgeons at the Ministry of Health (MoH) successfully performed five consecutive remote surgeries using robots on patients in Kuwait suffering from kidney and prostate cancer. These surgeries, conducted using telerobotic surgery technology, involved direct external medical participation from more than 7,000 kilometers away.
This accomplishment set a new world record, being the highest number of consecutive remote robotic surgeries performed in a short time span in any hospital worldwide.
In September 2024, the MoH announced the success of the first kidney transplant exchange procedure between families, coinciding with the launch of the national kidney exchange program. This initiative aims to enhance organ transplant services in Kuwait, reduce waiting times, and improve success rates.
A month earlier, glaucoma specialist Dr. Abdullah Al-Kandari successfully performed a delicate eye surgery to treat glaucoma - a major advancement in the precise treatment of this critical eye disease.
In July 2024, the vascular surgery and catheterization team at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Fawwaz, performed a surgery, the first in the Middle East, to repair an aortic arch aneurysm using a customized stent graft that was surgically modified to fit the patient's arterial dimensions and then implanted via catheter.
In December 2023, Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital witnessed several complex surgeries for patients with lymphedema, for the first time in Kuwait, during a four-day workshop led by national professionals and supervised by Professor J.P. Hong from South Korea.
In June 2023, the same hospital used a smart mesh for the first time in Kuwait to repair hernias and reconstruct the abdominal wall in patients with advanced cases.
That same month, the MoH announced the successful implantation of Kuwait's first artificial heart pump, the second of its kind in the Arab world, for a patient in his 60s. Additionally, another permanent artificial heart pump was implanted on the left side.
In May 2023, a Kuwaiti surgical team led by Dr. Talal Al-Qoud, Saja Suror, and Mohammad Zain successfully performed a rare kidney transplant with urinary tract reconstruction for a 29-year-old male patient - using a globally rare transplant method.
Also in May, under the supervision of Dr. Noura Al-Ibrahim, a Kuwaiti medical team used fluorescent dye and gamma camera sentinel node tracking technology during a laparoscopic hysterectomy to treat endometrial cancer, marking the first use of this method in Kuwait.
In March 2023, Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital witnessed five pediatric neurosurgeries, including the first-ever spinal nerve operation in Kuwait to relieve muscle spasticity in a child and help improve mobility.
In January 2023, Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital introduced a new plastic surgery approach, combining three operations into one using a collaborative approach from multiple specialties - a first in Kuwait and the Middle East. Dr. Hmoud Al-Rashidi called the procedure "Hidden Tummy Tuck," which represents a revolution in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery.
In the same month, the hospital also successfully performed Kuwait's first simultaneous hip and knee replacement surgery for an 82-year-old patient suffering from a pelvic fracture and severe knee osteoarthritis.
In November 2022, Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital conducted Kuwait's first AI-assisted endoscopy to detect colon and stomach tumors, using cutting-edge artificial intelligence for precision diagnostics.
In April 2022, Dr. Abdullah Al-Fawwaz, the vascular and general surgery consultant at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, successfully performed Kuwait's first abdominal aortic aneurysm repair via catheter using intravascular ultrasound, a safer alternative to contrast dye, especially for kidney patients.
In February 2021, a medical team at the Chest Hospital, including Dr. Khaled Al-Merri, Ibrahim Al-Rashdan, Khaled Bouresly, and Dharrar Al-Khudhair, performed a highly delicate catheterization, the first of its kind in Kuwait and the Middle East, for a patient in his 80s.
In November 2020, a Kuwaiti team successfully conducted a cardiac catheterization for a man in his 40s who had blockages in all coronary arteries and severe liver and kidney failure - using a technique applied for the first time in the Middle East, despite the estimated 70 percent mortality rate in such cases using conventional catheterization.
That same month, a team at Adan Hospital, including Dr. Mohammad Jamal, Hussein Al-Mahameed, Adnan Sadeq, Mohammed Shamsah, and Mansour Al-Ghanim, performed Kuwait's first liver transplant for a woman in her 60s.
In June 2020, another Kuwaiti medical team successfully treated a child infected with COVID-19 using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) - a rare and unconventional method in pediatric cases. The patient, an eight-year-old girl, was one of only 16 similar cases globally.
In March 2019, a team led by Dr. Abdullah Al-Enezi, head of the cardiology department at the Chest Hospital, conducted the first surgery of its kind in the Middle East by implanting a new heart valve via catheter without open-heart surgery. (end)
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