By Kuda Pembere
A training workshop for doing applying minimally invasive surgery in the chest cavity began Monday ending the following day at the University of Zimbabwe International Centre for Surgical Simulation (UZICSS) attracting African surgeons from Somalia, Libya, Uganda, and Botswana.
Top surgeons in thoracic cavity keyhole surgery from Morocco, Spain and South Africa were the main tutors or facilitators at the workshop.
Speaking with journalists, UZICSS director Professor Godfrey Muguti said this type of surgery is an evolution from the times when surgeons used to make large incisions to access the chest area.
Minimally invasive surgery involves making tiny incisions and inserting a tube with a light and a camera (the laparoscope) on its end.
This is a thoracic surgery workshop which has been convened to introduce trainee surgeons and young surgeons into new techniques of operating in the chest. In the past like all operations, all operations required big incisions to access to access areas where there was disease that needed to be corrected.
“But in the last 20 years or so, there have been major advances that are making it possible to solve big surgical problems through small incisions,” he said.
Prof Muguti added, “And the training is involving lectures that talk about the different techniques, about the different diseases. And it also involves practice sessions in what we call a dry laboratory, which is like carrying out some exercises in a box, which simulates the chest cavity.
“You know, training surgeons to do suturing using a telescope and a camera in that box and to do some other exercises so that they are familiar with the instruments that they used to operate.”
Zimbabwe’s only female cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Kudzai Kanyepi said the training not only enhanced their skills as surgeons but nurses as well.
“As we were doing before, we were doing some surgeries minimally invasive, but we want to take surgeries forward. So this course aims to equip not just the surgeons, but also the nursing teams and the hospitals to be able to undertake this more advanced technique.
“So going forward, we will be more and more doing these techniques using a minimally invasive procedure, which is far better. And that’s why we have brought these professors, these masters in thoracic surgery to Zimbabwe so we can continue to move forward with this technique. We have already been doing some of it, but they are here to impart some more surgical techniques, some more expertise and guidance.
“And so going forward, this will be part of our armatarium that we use in cardiothoracics at Parirenyatwa doing these techniques minimally invasive,” she said.
The Head of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospital cardiothoracic department Dr Simukai Machawire said the workshop offered them a chance to refine their thoracic surgery skills.
“So today is our first day on the master class of Uniportal Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery. We have an international faculty with our participants, the drivers, mainly being Professor Rivers, he’s from Spain. And then we’ve also got Professor Boubia, he’s from Morocco, and then we’ve got Dr. Ivan Shevitz from South Africa.
“So we’ve also got participants from South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, and Libya, and Somalia. Basically, what we are doing is refining our technique in minimally invasive thoracic surgery. And the aim is to impart the knowledge to the region as well as locally so that we are able to practice the same way locally,” Dr Machawire said.
Dr Machawire said they are hopeful they will be doing robotic surgery for the thoracic cavity.
“So we want to use this modified technique of a video-assisted thoracic Surgery where instead of having three ports you will be having one port which we call uniportal thoracic surgery.
“And we are sure this will be a success as we have a team with extensive experience and hopefully this will be our first time.
“But I’m sure the next time you will be coming, we’ll be doing a robotic surgery as we continue to advance as the rest of the world is doing,” he said.
During the workshop, they had what they call dry lab and wet labs where they were practicing this type of surgery using a chest cavity simulation box, pigs and human beings.
