KARACHI: The first international robotic surgery symposium concluded at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) on Saturday with experts calling for the adoption of robotic surgery on a wider scale.

Some 600 participants including overseas professionals attended the two-day event.

Dr Irfan Rizvi from the US who introduced the various segments of the symposium on both days said robotic surgery was a paradigm shift in healthcare towards improved clinical outcomes.

Dr Aimal Khan, surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, US, highlighted the use of robotic surgery in the large intestine. Dr Aamir Jafarey representing the Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture at SIUT spoke about ethical issues in this part of the world.

Other speakers included Dr Mark Slack and Dr Paul Roberts from the UK, Dr Mahmood Ayaz of King Edward Medical University, Dr Shahriyar Ghazanfar of Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr Harris Hassan Qureshi and Dr Pardeep Kumar of SIUT.

They shared their experiences with the use of robotic surgery in different fields of surgical sciences. They also explained how robotic surgery was practiced and extended benefits to those undergoing this kind of surgery.

In the concluding session, a general body meeting of the Pakistan Society of Robotic Surgery was held. The society unanimously appointed Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi as the patron of the society and elected Prof Saeed Qureshi (President), Prof Altaf Hashmi (President-Elect), Prof Mehmood Ayaz (vice president), Prof Asad Shahzad Hasan (general secretary) and Prof Rehan Mohsin (treasurer) as office-bearers.

The elected councils are Prof Dr Waris Farooka (Lahore), Prof Nadeem bin Nusrat (Lahore), Prof Mazhar Khan (Peshawar), Prof Nasir Orakzai (Peshawar), Prof Dr Ahsan Ghilzai (Quetta), Dr Hayat Kakar (Quetta), Prof Dr Shahid Rasool (Karachi), Dr Abdul Wahab Dogar (Gambat), Prof Bilal Umair (Islamabad) and Prof Amir Ghazanfar (Islamabad).

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2022