Kuwait Times: How is medical innovation changing the healthcare landscape in Kuwait? Can you share some examples from your own field?
Dr Abdulla Al-Mulaifi: Medical innovation has largely influenced the healthcare sector in Kuwait. Introduction of laparoscopy (Key hole surgery) in abdominal surgery considerably reduced the operating time, avoids large incisions thus avoiding surgical trauma, less post operative pain, and shorter duration of hospital stay. Thus significantly reducing morbidity and mortality following surgery. There is an overall reduction in incidence of post op complications like deep vein thrombosis, lung infections as patients were mobilized early on. More complex gastrointestinal surgeries including cancer surgeries are made easier by sophisticated laparoscopic instruments (eg: linear cutters, anstamotic staplers, harmonic scissors, ligasure, ligaclips etc are a few of many laparoscopic instruments)
THD (Transanal haemarrhoidal dearterialisation) is one of the novel techniques used in the modern day management of piles. Locating the feeding vessels to pile masses by ultrasound guidance and ligating those is the technique used. Again there is no surgical wounds, post-operative pain is considerably low when compared to conventional techniques, and early resume to normal activities.
KT: How do you think it will change in the next 5 years?
Al-Mulaifi: In the next 5 years, surgeons will be increasingly using the above mentioned techniques which are patient friendly.
The recent medical innovation will definitely change the surgical practice in Kuwait and GCC in the long run. The patients knowledge regarding the surgical techniques are fast improving with easier online access and they prefer to opt for more minimally invasive techniques as advantages far outweigh the complications.
KT: How do products like ValleyLab FT10 contribute to this development?
Al-Mulaifi : ValleyLab FT10 is an integral and unavoidable part of modern day surgery, which provides energy platform for cautery for almost all surgical procedures of different surgical specialties and laparoscopic instruments.
As far as Kuwait and other GCC countries are concerned, whose medical infrastructure are aspiring to implement most modern techniques in modern medicine, are competent enough to support growth and innovation in medical field.