According to Najran Health Affairs, a Saudi medical team at the Obesity Surgery Centre of King Khaled Hospital- Najran has successfully ended the suffering of a 19-year-old patient with excessive obesity, weighing 184 kg.
The patient, who has been obese since childhood, was brought to the hospital's obesity clinic with a very high body mass index (BMI) at a rate of 61%. After due medical diagnosis, it was decided to perform laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy on him.
Thank Allah the operation has been successful, thanks to the advanced laparoscopic technology. After due observation, assurance of his health condition, and deciding on his clinical appointments, he was discharged. One month later, the patient revisited the center, and underwent due medical tests. He is now in good health after losing around 20 kg. He has to continue with the dietary systems provided by the hospital until he reaches the right weight.
It is noted that the Najran Obesity Surgery Centre, which is the first specialized obesity center in the southern region, is equipped with the latest medical technologies, and is under supervision of qualified national staff. Since its establishment, the center received more than 6,000 outpatients and successfully performed 35 surgeries during the last quarter of the previous year, at a rate of 3 surgeries a week. In addition, another obesity clinic has been opened and is supervised by a Saudi consultant to accommodate those wishing to perform such type of surgeries.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Health (MOH) is currently implementing MOH's Performance Program, which covers 70 main hospitals and aims to boost productivity, performance quality and efficiency of health services in hospitals. The program features over 40 indicators to measure the performance of seven key therapeutic aspects, including emergency, clinics, surgeries, hospitalization, ICU, radiology and labs. The program also aims to develop the skills of health professionals to use the indicators and to identify performance improvement potentials, in compliance with patient safety and quality standards.