High success rate for microsurgery at HMC
29 December 2008
Doha: Microsurgical procedures done by the Urology Department of Hamad Medical Corporation have high success rates, according to Dr Sami Al Said, Consultant Urologist and Andrologist, HMCH The surgical procedures done so far have been more that 80 percent successful.
Microsurgery is a procedure that requires an operating microscope. The procedure is used to work on small blood vessels and nerves. New initiatives in the field now allow transfer of tissue from one part of the body to another and reattachment of severed parts. Although microsurgery is used mostly in plastic surgery, microsurgical techniques are utilised by all specialties now.
HMCH introduced microsurgery in 2004,” said Dr Al Said. “Qatar is the first country to use it in the treatment and management of infertility. The success of the procedures is very high and with lesser side effects,” he told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the International Conference on Human Sexuality and Infertility at HMCH
The urology department started with a microsurgical sperm retrieval procedure. “The sperms are extracted from the patients with infertility problems. They are then used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for fertilisation. ICSI is an in vitro fertilisation procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.”
The procedure is one of the latest in the field. “The procedure has heralded hope for many. The success rates are also high as all the procedures, including fertilization, are done under a microscope using multiple micromanipulation devices,” he told The Peninsula.
Microsurgical varicocelectomy is another microsurgical procedure done at HMCH. as Varicocele (abnormal enlargement of the vein) is the leading cause of infertility in men in Qatar. “The microsurgery has more advantages over the open and laparoscopic varicocele treatment. Microsurgical varicocelectomy has the advantages of no accumulation of serous fluid and lower incidence of recurrent varicocele. In fact, it improves the sperm count and motility. The procedures have resulted in 82 percent increase in sperm count”
Urology is among the medical fields with the highest rate of technology advances, which for several years has included the use of medical robots. HMCH’s urology department is the second in the region to introduce robotic surgery after Saudi Arabia.
“Robotic procedures give a magnified field and a 3-D view of the area. This helps the doctors to see what is happening. A number of procedures have been done since its launch few weeks ago and all of them have been successful,” said Al Said.
BY HUDA N V
© The Peninsula 2008
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