Excitement as Imo performs first robotic surgery in South-East

From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri

Imo State on Friday recorded what was described as the first robot-assisted precision surgery in the South-East, with a team of local and international medical experts performing the procedure on a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The surgery was performed at the Imo State Robotic and Oncology Centre, Owerri, under the leadership of a United Kingdom-based Consultant Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgeon, Professor Kingsley Ekwueme.

Speaking with journalists after the successful procedure, Ekwueme said the project was undertaken through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the Imo State Government as part of efforts to introduce advanced medical technology and specialist healthcare services to the region.

Ekwueme, who led a team of specialists from the United Kingdom, United States and Belgium, said the robotic procedure was performed without significant blood loss, while critical nerves were preserved.

According to him, the robotic system is equipped with artificial intelligence and can magnify tissues up to 10 times, enabling surgeons to operate with greater precision while its built-in safety checks help minimise the risk of errors.

He said: “Over the past couple of years, we started developing robotic surgery in West Africa. Initially, we developed one in Lagos, but with the intervention of Governor Hope Uzodimma, he invited me to Imo State to partner with him to develop a robotic centre. He has a vision to transform the health sector of Imo State, and when I arrived in the state, I saw his vision. You can see the transformation that is happening here.

“Next door will be the Oncology and Treatment Centre, where we will have state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities to treat all forms of cancer. It doesn’t exist anywhere in the world because you don’t usually have a state-of-the-art robotic and oncology centre next to a physiotherapy centre. So, you have it all in one place here.”

Ekwueme said the patient who underwent the operation would have had to travel outside the state to access similar treatment if the facility had not been established.

The surgeon described the occasion as particularly significant to him because of his return to Nigeria to deploy his expertise for the benefit of people in the region.

“I feel emotional because you can do this anywhere in the world, but to come back and do it for your people is something I don’t take for granted,” he said.

Ekwueme explained that the robotic system provides surgeons with a highly magnified view of the operating field, allowing them to identify and remove targeted tissues while reducing the risk of damage to surrounding structures.

According to him, robotic surgery has become increasingly prominent in advanced healthcare systems, including the United Kingdom, where he said the technology was now widely used for a range of procedures.

“The robot has seven degrees of freedom, the same as human beings. So, it means that if I rotate my hand 360 degrees, the robot will rotate 360 degrees. Human surgeons cannot perform this task the way they do open surgery when they cut the body because the hand is limited. So, with robots, you have precision. The robot is so precise that when you change instruments, it will stop at the exact place the previous instrument stopped. The robot memorises it and doesn’t change, “he said.

In his remarks, the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, said the initiative was part of his administration’s deliberate investment in modern healthcare infrastructure, specialist services and medical technology.

Uzodimma said the partnership was designed not only to facilitate access to advanced surgical technology but also to expose medical personnel in the state to modern surgical techniques and expertise.

He said his administration was committed to reducing the financial and emotional burden on residents who are forced to travel outside Imo State to seek specialised medical treatment.

On access to healthcare, the governor said the state government was working through the Imo State Health Insurance Scheme to ensure that residents could benefit from quality medical services without being overwhelmed by the cost of treatment.

Uzodimma commended Professor Ekwueme, as well as the management and staff of the Imo State Robotic and Oncology Centre, for the successful procedure and described the development as a significant milestone in the state’s healthcare transformation agenda.