Mediclinic City Hospital performs UAE’s first paediatric robotic-assisted pyeloplasty

Mediclinic City Hospital performs UAE’s first paediatric robotic-assisted pyeloplasty

Ten-year-old Hewas was presented to another hospital with severe pain in the pelvic region after drinking too much liquid. He was discovered to be suffering from hydronephrosis, the swelling of a kidney due to a back-up of urine, which occurs when urine cannot drain out because there is a blockage. The treatment suggested was an open surgery to correct the blockage. Unhappy to go ahead with the open technique, the father investigated other options and the parents were introduced to Dr Ghassan Nakib, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at Mediclinic City Hospital, to explore and investigate further. Robotic-assisted pyeloplasty is the most common robotic procedure performed in paediatric urology. Pyeloplasty is a reconstructive surgery of narrowing or scarring where the ureter (the tube that drains urine from the kidney to the bladder) is attached to the kidney at the renal pelvis (the narrow part of the kidney). This abnormality is called a ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction, which results in poor and sluggish drainage of urine from the kidney. UPJ obstruction can potentially cause abdominal and flank pain, stones, infection and deterioration of kidney function. Advances in robotic technology, instrumentation, patient care and surgical expertise have allowed the correction of UPJ obstruction in