A two-week neurosurgery camp is currently underway at the national referral hospital. Three doctors from Siriraj Hospital in Thailand along with a Bhutanese medical team, will perform 21 major surgeries that would otherwise require referrals abroad. The camp aims to reduce overseas referrals and foster skill exchange between Thai and Bhutanese doctors.
The collaboration focuses on surgeries related to skull base and epilepsy among others, which require cutting-edge skill and careful navigation around the brainstem and nerves.
The surgeries which last over four to five hours are considered complex surgeries with a risk of paralysis or death.
At the same time, the team is also handling emergencies cases related to brain and nerves, at the national referral hospital.
According to Dr Sonam Jamtsho, who is facilitating the surgery, a single surgery carried out at the camp would cost about Nu 700 to 800,000 if referred abroad.
Dr Sonam Jamtsho, a neurosurgeon said “When you are talking of 10 to 20 patients, it is a huge amount. And one reason is that I want to save the revenue in the country. At the same time, be able to do the complex cases together in collaboration with the institute where I graduated from.”
Dr Songrit Vuttipongkul, a neurosurgeon from Siriraj Hospital in Thailand said “Experience is quite different from Thailand- the setup of operation theatre is different, and there is limited resource, which makes it challenging. However, we make up for it with teamwork. We get to experience how to work with complex surgery with limited resources.”
The doctors came to Bhutan with support from Royal Kidu Medical Services under His Majesty’s Secretariat.
The camp, which began last week, aims to prepare the Bhutanese medical team to handle such challenges independently.
Singye Dema
Edited by Tshering Zam
