Doctors from two government hospitals in Pampanga and Cotabato City conducted the Philippines’ first robotic telesurgery.
Located about 1,380 kilometers apart, physicians from Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH) in the City of San Fernando and Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City made history in pioneering the long-distance procedures.
The medical procedures included robotic cholecystectomies or gallbladder removal surgeries, performed using the SSI Mantra Robotic Surgery System.
In the first procedure, JBLMGH surgeon Dr. Ryan Quiambao operated remotely on a patient at CRMC through the robotic system.
In a subsequent procedure, CRMC surgeons Dr. Al-Jazzer M. Angas and Dr. Louis Gerard Agustin operated on a patient at JBLMGH using the same system.
Hospital officials said both procedures were completed in less than an hour, with minimal blood loss.
The surgeries were provided at no cost to the patients under the Department of Health’s (DOH) Zero Balance Billing policy.
The procedures were witnessed by DOH Secretary Dr. Edwin Mercado, Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda, Nanay Partylist Representative Florabel Yatco, DOH Central Luzon Director Dr. Corazon Flores, and officials and medical personnel from both hospitals.
Also present during the event were JBLMGH Medical Center Chief Dr. Monserrat Chichioco, CRMC Medical Center Chief Dr. Ishmael Dimaren, and SS Innovations Founder, Chair Dr. Sudhir Shrivastava.
Health officials are optimistic that robotic telesurgery will allow specialized surgical services to be delivered in remote areas.
