Dubai, May 18 (Emiarates 24 x 7): An Indian surgeon specialised in obesity and diabetes has been approved by the UAE Ministry of Health to conduct keyhole excess fat removal surgery.
Dr R Padmakumar, Senior Consultant Surgeon and Medical Director of Sunrise Group of Hospitals, said that already 100 patients have undergone keyhole surgery for diabetes and the success rate is 92 per cent.
“Excess fat in the body is like poison that affects the functioning of other body parts, including the pancreas. By removing excess fat from the stomach through keyhole surgeries, patients with Type 2 diabetes can become normal, within one day of the surgery.”
“The International Diabetic Federation (IDF) has also now recognised keyhole excess fat removal as a cure for diabetics. The keyhole surgery on a diabetic with any body mass (obese or normal) will cost between Dh50,000 to Dh70,000 in the UAE and Rs300,000- 350,000 in India,” he said.
“We have successfully conducted such procedure on about 100 patients, including many NRIs from the UAE and other Gulf countries. Many of these patients are happy and their life expectancy has been extended. We don’t advise the surgery on patients undergoing dialysis or those who have undergone angioplasty or other heart surgeries, because they cannot bear such an operation.”
Dr Padmakumar said patients taking regular medication or insulin spend between Dh3,000-4,000 per month. Thus spending money for a keyhole surgery is worth it. He said insurance companies have not yet approved keyhole surgery for treatment for those suffering from diabetes, but since the Ministry of Health in the UAE has approved it, he will persuade insurance companies to follow suit.
“Diabetic surgery is an appropriate treatment for people with Type 2 diabetes who do not achieve recommended targets with medical therapies, especially when there are other major co-morbidities. These procedures are not useful for Type 1 diabetic patients.”
“We are going to do this surgery in the International Modern Hospital, Dubai. This is the first time in the GCC that a surgeon has been allowed to perform keyhole surgery as a cure for diabetics. Twenty per cent of the population in the UAE suffers from diabetics and they spend several million dirhams to find a cure for the disease, but due to the side effects of the medicines, patients suffer other complications like depression. Citing examples of diabetic drugs removed from the market, he said the keyhole surgery is not directly impacting the pancreas glands, but instead, the surgeon removes excess fat from a portion of the patients stomach, secreting bad hormones. In the surgery, the small intensive which discrete good hormones is repositioned. We are not doing anything directly on the pancreas gland,” he revealed.
The global prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is growing. According to the International Diabetic Federation, there are 825 million diabetic patients worldwide and it poised to grow to 438 million by 2030 – affecting 8 per cent of global population and another half a billion people, 9 per cent of world population, are at risk of diabetes. The UAE has 20 per cent population suffering from diabetes, second largest in the world. India too tops the list with number one position.
Dr Sunil Roy, a Dubai-based cardiologist working for the Belhoul Speciality Hospital, says most of the members of the All Kerala Medical Graduates Association have positive opinion about the keyhole surgery treatment for diabetics. “Traditionally, keyhole surgery has been used for weight reduction and obesity patients. Now it has been proved that surgery for weight reduction will be useful in controlling diabetes. This technique has been found useful in many cases. The only problem is that the general public and patients are not aware of the key hole surgery treatment for diabetics.”