Robotic Orthopaedic Surgery in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has prioritised the development of the healthcare sector in recent decades, expanding both public and private sectors with the goal of creating a premier health service for residents of the country and medical tourists from across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In addition to building infrastructure, bed capacity and clinical space, the country has endeavoured to capitalise on medical innovations and technology and secure accreditation of its leading hospitals with the prestigious Joint Commission International of the USA. The Joint Commission is the largest of several premier hospital accreditation organisations and Dubai and Abu Dhabi have some of the highest numbers of accredited hospitals in the world. The remaining 5 emirates which make up the UAE have lagged somewhat in this respect.

The government sector's leading hospital in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City has now performed its first robotic arthroplasty on a male patient who received a successful knee replacement. Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), is a flagship tertiary hospital in the UAE and the largest teaching medical centre in Abu Dhabi. SKMC is a 441-bed acute care hospital with 16 Outpatient Specialty Clinics which manages a Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory (BSL3) and a 125-bed Behavioural Sciences Pavilion, the largest mental care facility that provides adult and paediatric services.

As an innovative market leader, SKMC has achieved numerous milestones, including the establishment of the UAE's first and most comprehensive Kidney Transplant Center and the sole provider of paediatric kidney transplant services in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. It also takes pride in offering the largest Heart Program for Children in the UAE and the only Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Program in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The hospital hosts the largest paediatric medical centre in the UAE offering specialized services in Paediatric Oncology and Haematology, Paediatric Nephrology, Paediatric Metabolic Disorders, and Paediatric Minimally Invasive Procedures. The state-of-the-art Paediatric Critical Care Unit and Paediatric Emergency Department are the largest in the country.  SKMC also offers distinguished multidisciplinary Rehabilitation Services through its Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation institute.

The patient is Emirati former police officer 61 year-old Khamis Al Khansoori who was discharged home just 3 days after the procedure. The robotic technology, which costs in excess of $2m,  gives surgeons a three-dimensional image of a patient’s body, with a console based control system then used to move tiny surgical instruments held by a robotic hand. Speaking after the procedure, Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Yaaqoub Al Hammadi, outlined his hopes for the future of robotic surgery in the Emirates. He said: “This is the beginning of the future. There will come a day in the medical field where every procedure will be assisted by artificial intelligence. It gives you better accuracy and consistency. There are those who don’t want change maybe because of the requirement to retrain and enter new courses, however change is inevitable and should be encouraged.” He continued: “The aim is to give this service to everybody, you can’t put a value on better patient outcomes.”

Types of Robotic-assisted Knee Surgery Performed

In order to provide patients with a personalized surgical experience based on their individual diagnosis and anatomy,  orthopaedic surgeons use robotic-arm technology to perform the following knee surgeries to repair or replace the damaged or injured knee:

Total Knee Replacement:

Total knee replacement involves the removal and replacement of the whole diseased or damaged joint with an artificial joint called an implant.

Partial Knee Replacement:

Partial knee replacement involves the removal and replacement of only the damaged or worn-out part of the knee joint. This surgery is indicated for patients diagnosed with partial or compartmental osteoarthritis that leads to severe knee pain, knee swelling, and knee locking. It is performed in one or two of the following three sections of the knee in an attempt to resolve symptoms and regain a natural knee movement.

• Unicondylar knee replacement surgery is performed to replace only the medial or lateral area of the knee
• Patellofemoral knee replacement involves the diseased patella and the trochlea. Patella refers to a kneecap, whereas the trochlea is a groove at the end of the thigh bone
• Bicompartmental knee replacement surgery is carried out on two areas of the knee: the medial and patellofemoral

How is Robotic Knee Replacement Surgery Performed?

The robotic-arm assisted surgery is carried out in three phases:

Before Surgery

• During this phase, the doctor runs the patient through special X-ray views of the affected Knee, identifying the area that needs to be operated. These views are transferred into the system software that generates a unique pre-operative plan for each patient.

During Surgery

• Based on the unique pre-operative plan and intraoperative robotic measurements, the robotic-arm assists the Surgeon to perform a surgery by placing implants back into the position and restoring its alignment with the highest accuracy and precision.

After Surgery

• The orthopaedic staff (comprising surgeons, nurses, and therapists) will determine recovery goals for patients and monitor their progress.

Advantages of Robotic Knee Replacement Surgery

Compared to traditional surgical methods for knee replacement, robot-assisted knee surgery offers the following benefits:

• Involves tiny incisions to reach the targeted affected area
• Offers rapid and safe recovery
• Ensures the highest degree of precision and accuracy when it comes to incorporating the implant into its position
• Minimal or no damage to the surrounding tissues
• Optimizes the longevity of an implant

Information for Orthopaedic Surgeons Interested in Working in the UAE 

Dr Philipp Berdel is a leading Orthopaedic Surgeon in the UAE specialising in orthopaedic oncology and paediatric orthopaedics. He discusses the practice of orthopaedic surgery in the UAE in the video below.

Orthopaedic surgeons wishing to work in the UAE or other countries of the Gulf region may register a CV and contact us to discuss opportunities. Advertised jobs are shown on our website where applications can be made by uploading a recent CV. Candidates should ensure that the CV addresses all eligibility criteria for the job as set out in the job advert.

A DataFlow Report is required to apply for a licence to practice with all professional regulatory authorities in the UAE. Directions on how to obtain this are detailed in our article about DataFlow Reports.