operation to be helped by a "robot"
A Saudi medical center succeeded in conducting the first heart operation of its kind in the Middle East, the day before yesterday, with the help of a robotic "robot" controlled by a specialized surgeon remotely. The medical team at the University Hospital at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah (western Saudi Arabia) used the “robot” to remove the thymus gland, which is located at the top of the heart, of the girl Abeer Al-Qurashi (15 years old), who stabilized her condition and started talking with those around her when she was present. In intensive care yesterday.
Dr. Iskandar bin Sulaiman Al-Quthmi, a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon who controls the "robot" from another room in the University Hospital, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the "robot" plays an assistant role for the surgeon in conducting delicate surgeries, "so that his arms represent the surgeon''s fingers In motion ». He explained that the use of the “robot” in such operations contributes to alleviating the pain associated with the patient in previous traditional operations, especially that “in traditional operations, the chest was opened completely to see inside the chest cavity, while the presence of the robot in the operating room facilitated the work, as its arms carried By creating small openings in the chest with a length ranging from 1 to 2 cm, the cameras in the three arms are able to transmit an enlarged three-dimensional image inside the chest with a clear vision equal to ten times the normal size.
Dr. Al-Guthmi, a member of the faculty at the Faculty of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University, said that this operation using "robots" is the first of its kind in the Middle East region. He added, “The surgeon is now able to perform the operation remotely, for example ... he can control the robot from his office, or from another hospital, or even from another country via satellites, provided that the device is available in the hospital, and a medical team is present with the patient during the operation. Surgical intervention for rapid intervention in the event required that ».
As for the patient, she was suffering from what is known medically as "myasthenia graves", which is a weakness in the muscles of the body, as a result of an enlargement of the thymus gland located above the heart. The gland was removed through small openings in the chest wall, and it was 2 cm long. According to Al-Guthmi, this type of disease, which affects 45 percent of all heart patients in the world, causes a heavy human movement similar to a paralysis, in addition to an increasing weakness in their visual, auditory and sensory senses, whenever a surgical operation is delayed for the case.
