Operations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

I have already been in Riyadh for two days. I travelled the whole day on Friday and I had a welcoming dinner in a fantastic morrocan restaurant.... a good start for a very intense trip with a lot of work ahead.

I have been invited to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre to perform a number of surgical operations (PVPs - Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate) in patients suffering from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia with the new Greenlight HPS. The hospital wants to evaluate the technique and it has organised four days of surgery. This is a top-level tertiary hospital that is devoted to treating very complex cases coming from the whole kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Here is where the members of the Saudi Royal Family come for medical care. It is equipped with the latest technology and it is truly a healthcare city.... it is an impressive hospital.


A good part of the sanitary personnel is non-saudi, and comes from more than 80 different countries, which makes this hospital a really exceptional place. I must admit I am very impressed to see the quality of healthcare here, the outstanding level of doctors and the technology available.

Each day I have been asigned to treat the patients of one of the consultants of the department. The objective is to show them the technical tips and tricks and to allow them to witness the surgery and evaluate the results in their own patients.


The first day I operated two cases, a 40-50 gram prostate and an 85 gram prostate with a big median lobe. Both cases were uneventful. Today I saw the patients in the morning and both were feeling fine and have been already discharged.


This morning we operated a small prostate and a bladder tumour in a high risk patient and then they offered me to operate a patient with a huge 200 gram prostate, that also was satisfactory, although it was probably the most difficult case they can offer to a visiting surgeon... I suppose they found it interesting to see the performance of the HPS laser in huge prostates. After the surgical session we had some lunch at the urology department and then I did a talk on the Greenlight Laser, that was followed by a discussion.


Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow there are more patients programmed, so there is still a lot to do... Tonight we will go to a typical Saudi Restaurant, and believe me, the food is very good here ,-)