Nairobi-based Aga Khan university hospital has introduced Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) procedure in Kenya. The first hospital to do so in the East African country.
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is performed using a small video camera that is introduced into the patient’s chest via a scope. The surgeon is able to view the instruments that are being used along with the anatomy on which the surgeon is operating.
The minimally invasive procedure has so far been limited to thoracic surgeries. “This test is carried out under general anesthesia,” explains Dr Raj Jutley, Director, Cardiac Surgery at the Aga Khan University Hospital, “A tube is put down the throat to help the patient breathe through one lung. This way the other lung is completely deflated and allows the surgeon to fully view the chest cavity during the procedure.”
Dr. Jutley adds that the recovery window for patients is much smaller with VATS procedure compared to regular chest surgery (‘open’ surgery) because the wounds from the incisions are much smaller and there is no spreading of the ribs.
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