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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia, has recorded its first successful brain surgery. The emergency brain surgery was performed on a 19-year-old male accident victim.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu who disclosed this Tuesday while briefing journalists at Government House, Umuahia, said the major milestone recorded was as a result of heavy investment in specialised healthcare delivery by the Alex Otti administration.
Kanu explained that the 19-year-old male patient was involved in a motorcycle accident on Sunday, October 4, and was rushed to the hospital, where medical investigations revealed a large collection of blood within his skull requiring immediate neurosurgical intervention.
The patient according to him, underwent a four-hour emergency surgery to remove the blood from his brain and control further bleeding.
He said following the successful procedure, the patient was transferred to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, where he was making satisfactory post-operative recovery.
“This is a much more efficient medical procedure. The successful procedure demonstrates what the government is doing and the kind of investment we should continue to make in healthcare,” Kanu stated.
“This medical milestone follows sustained efforts by the Abia State Government over the past two years to reposition the health sector”.
Providing further details on the successful brain surgery, the Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche, explained that the 19-year-old patient was brought to the hospital in deep coma with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of six out of 15, which later dropped to five.
Professor Uche said the patient’s condition was critical because massive bleeding into the brain was compressing the brainstem, making immediate surgery necessary.
He explained that doctors had to act with precision as any attempt to refer the patient to another facility could have resulted in his death.
He said, “Because we now have facilities to undertake brain surgery, and then we have brain surgeons in the State employed by the Governor, that surgery was done”.
He disclosed that more than 100 millilitres of blood clot was evacuated from the patient’s brain and that the young man had subsequently started moving his limbs while receiving care in the Intensive Care Unit.
Throwing more light on the feat, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Chimezie Okwuonu informed that the surgery was performed by a multidisciplinary team comprising the Commissioner for Health, Professor Uche “who is himself a neurosurgeon”; and the hospital’s neurosurgeon, Dr Kalu, and his team.
Okwuonu said the hospital would now consolidate on the achievement by investing further in neurosurgical services and creating a niche for complex brain and spine surgeries.
Okwuonu said the breakthrough demonstrated that complex neurosurgical procedures could now be successfully handled in Abia, giving residents access to specialised brain and spine care without having to travel outside the state.
“Our mandate is to provide specialist services as a support to the primary health centres and the general hospitals. So, if we are able to offer these specialist services, that is where we actually fit into the ecosystem,” he said.
The CMD said the development had opened a new chapter in specialist healthcare delivery in Abia, particularly for patients suffering from neurological and neurosurgical conditions.
“We can comfortably say that for Abians who are in Abia State and for everybody in Abia State, we can provide a home for brain surgeries, brain and spine surgeries and anything related to the brain.”
He explained that the hospital already had a neurologist handling the medical management of brain-related diseases, while the addition of neurosurgery had strengthened its capacity to provide comprehensive care.
“Now that we have looked into the surgical aspect of the brain, we can say that we are providing holistic care for any brain disease in this place,” he said.
He linked the latest breakthrough to Abia’s earlier efforts to reduce medical tourism, particularly in kidney transplantation.
He said the milestone had strengthened the hospital’s resolve to pursue more complex medical procedures and further expand specialist services.
Okwuonu added that the development should give residents confidence that sophisticated medical care could increasingly be accessed within Abia, rather than sought outside the state.
Okwuonu disclosed that before now, the health facility had only one specialist consultant, the cardiologist, but added that presently, the place has
28 consultants which has ensured improved healthcare services.
He described these as major milestone towards ending medical tourism in the state.
