By Ibrahim Kabba Turay
Connaught Hospital, in partnership with Diego Gonzales Rivas Foundation, has for the first time in Sierra Leone, performed a Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery on a patient.
VATS is a minimal invasive procedure wherein patients with lungs/chest conditions, that require surgery, will no longer be cut wide open but instead get smaller cuts to the chest. Compared to an open chest surgery, VATS is less painful, has shorter recovery time and fewer complications.
The first operation was a huge success and in less than 24 hours, the patient was bright and back on his feet. Some local surgeons already have prerequisite knowledge about navigating around this ground-breaking technology and others will be trained and equipped as soon as possible.
Speaking to Journalists, Dr. Mustapha Kabba, who also doubles as Deputy Chief Medical Officer,said that was first ever in Sierra Leone to have performed minimally invasive surgery to the chest wall.
He said the first case of the new normal technology were successfully done and that the patients were in perfect conduction.
