DELTA State University Teaching (DELSUTH), Oghara has recorded its first implant of pace maker to the heart. This is coming in the heels of breakthroughs in hip management and knee cap replacements.
Fielding questions from journalists at the hospital premises, Dr. Yemi Johnson , a renowned Cardiologist with the hospital said that though the implanting of a pace maker to the heart may not be regarded as a major surgery, it was a technically complex operation.
“A patient came in with something we call complete heart block which is when the electrical system of the heart fails and the heart rate goes too slow. So he required a device called a pace maker which is like putting a generator to activate the heart to continue to pump. So this was done yesterday in the operating room. It is the first one that has been done in this part of the country,” he stated.
Furthermore, he said: “So basically it is a device that is about the size of a wristwatch that is put under the skin and then a wire is inserted into the heart and now his heart is working normally and he is feeling a lot better.”
He disclosed that the pace maker last for about seven years before it is replaced stressing: “we label it as a minor surgery because the heart was not opened, we got into the heart through the veins and we did not open the chest. In the next few months, we shall escalade the level of activities we do here and we shall begin open heart surgery”.
Dr. Johnson said that the implication is that the feat will reduce drastically the number of patients going outside the country for such procedures.
“We can do it here in Delta State University Teaching Hospital and in a few months, we shall start doing major open heart surgeries. The plan is for people not to have to go abroad for complex procedures any longer. So this is just a first step in that direction”, he added.
Similarly, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr. Leslie Akporiaye said the successful implant signals a lot of breakthroughs that will happen in the hospital within the year.
“Our intention is to develop the management of heart problems into something bigger. In the course of this year, we will try and do some open heart surgeries so that we won’t only be passing cardinals into the heart but actually opening the heart. What that does is that it builds the capacity of people around here and we can actually solve some problems,” he said.
Besides, he hinted that DELSUTH will by the end of the month commence a spine programme to take care of complex pains in the back region between the waist and the neck, a condition that many Nigerians visit India annually to seek solution.
“Soon we will start the spine programme. Many people who go to India go because of back problems and they have back operations. By the end of April, we should be able to start the spine programme. Most spine problems are due to Arthritis so many people go abroad to do evasive surgeries to relieve the pain. So we are trying to bring this programme as a part of the medical tourism the state is targeting”, the CMD said.
According to him, the unique thing about DELSUTH was that the State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan was determined to provide it with such advanced technology that were not normally available so that the people won’t have to leave the country for medical procedures.
In addition, he said that the hospital was involved in typical routine areas of specialization like Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pediatrics as well as General medicine.
“These services will restore confidence in Deltans and Nigerians in general as they will know that this hospital can now render medical breakthroughs which seemed impossible and inaccessible. With the availability of such procedures, the state government will reduce the cost of sending people with medical problems outside the country for solutions”, he said.
The CMD noted that what the hospital was doing was in line with Governor Uduaghan’s commitment to make Delta State a medical tourism destination, observing that no less than two million Nigerians spend huge sums of money travelling overseas for medical challenges that could be solved locally in the hospital.
