By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital successfully conducted a radical nephrectomy using a robot; the first operation of its kind in Kuwait, the hospital announced yesterday. The da Vinci robotic surgery was done successfully with the participation of the urology surgery unit team at the hospital, said Dr Saad Al-Abdelhadi Al-Dousary, Senior Urologist and Head of Urology Surgery Department at Jaber Hospital.

This is the seventh robotic surgery to be performed at Jaber Hospital, Dr Dousary said, adding that six other surgeries were previously performed to treat medical cases including obesity, urinary tracts diseases, colon, general surgery and others under the supervision of the head of surgery department Dr Salman Al-Sabah. Among robotic surgeries that can be done "with high precision" are radical prostatectomy, radical nephrectomy, cystectomy, transforming urinary tract pathways, and excision of the adrenal gland tumor, Dr Dousary said.

Meanwhile, Urologist Dr Mohammad Abdelmohsen Al-Ghanem said the robotic surgery allows patients to leave hospital within 48 hours and resume regular activity. "The robot technology allows doctors to have more control because they can reach areas where doctors find difficulties reaching normally," he said, pointing out that the robot itself is controlled by the surgeon. "They do not operate on their own, but rather provide more accuracy," he said, adding that they only create a less than 1 cm opening in patients for the operation.

Separately, Minister of Health Sheikh Dr Bassel Al-Sabah has ordered the formation of a panel to examine reports issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on illnesses and deaths resulting from vaping. The Ministry of Health said in a statement yesterday that the committee, headed by the assistant undersecretary for public health Dr Buthaina Al-Mudhaf, will look into these reports, patients' cases and prospected upgrade of diagnosis and treatment policies and protocols at the national level.

It indicated that the commission would also consider placing regulations on marketing and transactions. Moreover, its jurisdictions cover regular examination of technical reports, documents and recommendations, issued from meetings of signatory States of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, international agencies and centers specialized in regulating e-smoking. It will also seek to upgrade national policies on tobacco. in line with Kuwait's adherence to the WHO convention.