A landmark Cardiac Tele-surgery using the SSI Mantra 3 robotic surgical system was performed in Guyana on Tuesday.
The surgery was conducted at the Georgetown Hospital by internationally renowned cardiac surgeon Dr Sudhir Srivastava, who is based in India.
Dr Srivastava and his team, which included Guyanese, performed a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft.
At a joint press conference, President Irfaan Ali explained that with the use of the latest technology, Dr Srivastava operated remotely from Guyana on a patient located in India using the SSI Mantra 3 robotic surgical system.
The robotic surgical system here in Guyana has been named “Mantra Freedom 60.”
“The telesurgery covered an estimated distance of approximately 20,000 kilometres [via fibre optic cables], making it the longest-distance telesurgery ever attempted in the world to date…making it the longest-distance telesurgery ever completed in the world,” President Ali said.
The coronary artery bypass graft, which involved the grafting of a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body to create a detour around a narrowed or blocked heart artery, thereby restoring normal blood flow, was supported by Dr Lalit Malik and Dr Mohit Bhandari, who were onsite in India.
A local robotic general surgery was also conducted by Dr Hemraj Ramcharran and supported by Dr Bibi Hussain and Dr Jagnanand Ramnarine. The team, which underwent specialized training in India, performed a local robotic inguinal hernia repair.
Dr Ramcharran, who is now the first Guyanese to perform robotic surgery in Guyana and the English speaking Caribbean, said within a period of five weeks the team underwent extensive training both in India and Guyana to prepare for the landmark achievement.
“This was the first robotic surgery done physically here in Guyana and the Caribbean. We were mentored by Dr Sudhir Srivastava, who was excellent in guiding us but the surgery was done by the surgeons of Guyana or by medical technicians and our nurses, this shows clearly that we are able to continue this,” Dr Ramcharran said.
A local robotic Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) repair was also conducted by Dr Srivastava. The patient was treated for an ASD – a congenital heart condition involving an abnormal opening in the wall separating the upper chambers of the heart.
Minister of Health, Frank Anthony said this development marks the start of a new era in Guyana’s Healthcare Sector. He said the successful completion of the cardiac tele-surgery is an indication that local medical technicians can conduct other types of surgeries using the robotic surgical system.
“Back here at home, you can have a surgeon being here in Georgetown and operate on a patient that is in one of our regional hospitals, and that can bring tremendous comfort to that patient because you are operating away from Georgetown, and doing precision surgery,” Minister Anthony said.
With the use of this modern technology in the healthcare sector, President Ali said Guyana has not leapfrogged to 2050 and beyond. With this massive investment in the Health Sector, Guyana, he added, is ready to share its resources with the rest of the Latin America and Caribbean Region.
“We did not just make an investment to be part of history, we made an investment and we bought the entire training module. And we got the SSI Mantra ecosystem to agree to put an international training hub here in Guyana to train all of our professionals. We had to send our entire team to India to be trained, and guys, the report is exceptional, they were blown away by the capability of our local guys, and I am so proud of you guys. But today, this facility, everything that they experienced in the most advanced facility in India in the coming weeks will be available here in Guyana for the rest of the region as we build out the hub for robotic surgeries and care from Guyana and the spokes will be built out throughout the Caribbean,” President Ali explained.
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, who held the press conference jointly with President Ali, lauded the Guyana on the major milestone. Prime Minister Mottley said the establishment of an international training hub in Guyana would augur well for the rest of the region, and would help to address the backlog in surgical cases using the robotic surgical system.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login