SNUBH professor performs 1st robotic thyroid surgery in Middle East

A Korean medical team has performed robotic thyroid surgery in Kuwait for the first time in the Middle East, demonstrating Korea's excellent medical skills overseas.

In January, Professor Jeong Woo-jin of the Department of Otolaryngology at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH), along with nurses Shin Sol-ji and Park Ji-hye, were invited by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health and Welfare to visit the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Hospital to transfer robotic surgery skills and successfully performed robotic thyroid surgery, the hospital said Wednesday.

Robotic thyroid surgery is performed behind the ear or through the oral cavity, so there is no visible scar compared to traditional open surgery, which requires an incision in the front of the neck. However, Kuwait and other Middle Eastern countries don’t have skilled surgeons who can perform it, and local patients have not had the opportunity to receive this treatment.

Therefore, before Dr. Ramla Mohammad of Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Hospital, trained in robotic surgery by Professor Jeong in Korea, could perform robotic surgery locally, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health and Welfare invited Professor Jeong to Kuwait to demonstrate the procedure.

The patient was a Kuwaiti woman in her 30s with bilateral thyroid tumors, and Professor Jeong could remove both thyroid glands using a bilateral retroauricular approach (a robotic surgery method that uses an incision behind the ear).

According to Intuitive Surgical, the U.S. company that supplies the da Vinci Surgical System, this is the first robotic thyroid surgery in Kuwait and the Middle East.

An SNUBH official said this is significant because it confirms Korea's position as a leader in robotic surgery.

"Robotic thyroid surgery is the standard of care for patients with thyroid cancer or tumors that have not progressed significantly and do not want to leave a large scar on the front of the neck," Professor Jeong said. “It was very meaningful to spread this advanced technology that can improve the quality of life for women in the Middle East after surgery."

Professor Jeong's surgery was also broadcast on Kuwait's national broadcaster KTV News.