Luanda - The director of Global Robotics, Vipul Patel, considered, on Tuesday, in Luanda, an “important milestone” for Angola and Africa, the carrying out of the first robotic surgery in the country, which took place today.
The doctor, who heads a team of foreign health experts that carried out the surgery on Tuesday, using a robot, was received in audience by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, who informed him about the innovative process carried out in Angola, within the framework of improving the National Health System (SNS).
The first robotic surgery was performed in the central block of the Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento Cardio-Pulmonary Diseases Hospital, in Luanda, on a patient with prostate cancer, during which Angolan doctors were present, who from now on will direct other surgeries with the same system.
Speaking to the press at the end of the hearing, Vipul Patel praised the commitment of Angolan doctors who are being trained and who will have the opportunity to improve their knowledge, with regard to this very important science.
“We have several Angolan doctors with whom we had contact and they all showed interest in training”, he explained.
The first surgical robot made available to the National Health Service was recently installed in that hospital unit, making Angola the second country in sub-Saharan Africa to use this technology.
Robotic or robot-assisted surgery represents a major advance in invasive techniques.
It basically consists of surgery using laparoscopic access (small holes through which the camera and surgical forceps are introduced) and the movements of the instruments are also performed by robotic arms.
The movements are all performed by the surgeon, who sits at a console controlling the robotic arms using joysticks.
It is currently one of the most used techniques for prostate cancer surgeries (radical prostatectomy) and kidney cancer (partial nephrectomy or radical nephrectomy), but also for reconstructive surgeries such as pyeloplasty for kidney obstruction.
Also called robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, it is a minimally invasive procedure, through which the surgeon manipulates a robot to perform incisions, resections and reconstructions.
Seen as an evolution of laparoscopy, it also has advantages over open surgery, being less invasive, possibly causing less bleeding, faster recovery and shorter hospital stays.
AFL/ART/CF/DOJ
