Nigeria has recorded what doctors involved in the procedure described as West Africa’s first telerobotic surgery, after surgeons operated across cities using a robotic system linked by internet connection.
The procedure connected Redeemer’s Health Village in Mowe, Ogun State, with Nisa Premier Hospital in Abuja, where the patient was located. Punch and Daily Trust both reported that the surgery involved kidney removal for a cancer-related condition.
Punch said the operation was a right radical nephrectomy carried out by Redeemer’s Health Village in collaboration with RoboMed Global and Nisa Premier Hospital. It reported that surgeons at the Ogun facility controlled the system while the patient was in Abuja, about 500 kilometres away.
Daily Trust reported that the procedure lasted about three hours and used a MicroPort robotic surgical platform installed at Nisa Premier Hospital. It said Professor Obi Ekwenna-Davis remotely controlled the platform from Redeemer’s Health Village, while Nisa said the patient had been discharged after the procedure.
The hospitals presented the surgery as a step toward giving more Nigerian patients access to specialist operations without moving the surgeon and patient to the same location. The reports also linked the project to wider efforts to reduce medical travel abroad for highly specialised care.
Sources: Punch, Daily Trust
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