Hospital Celebrates 250 Successful HoLEP Surgeries

Kelina Hospital has marked its 15th anniversary with the news of its feat in conducting 250 prostate surgeries successfully, using the advanced and non-invasive Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) procedure.

 Prostate cancer is both the most common and most deadly cancer with 32·8 cases and 16·3 deaths per 100, 000 men, with estimated 80 per cent of Nigerians incurable on diagnosis.

The medical director of the hospital, Dr. Celsus Undie, who announced the feat, at a press conference on Saturday, in Lagos, averred that Kelina Hospital has deployed latest technology, known as HoLEP, to avert the trend.

He added that, “May, 2023, is a major milestone in the last four years of our work when we have done successfully 250 Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) surgeries for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland that can obstruct urine, capable of causing damage to the kidney, kidney failure and other life-threatening complications.”

  At the moment, HoLEP is the most common surgery we do, Undie averred, even as he disclosed that, “The type of prostates we see in this country are so big that TURP is not the best for them, as it cannot remove enough prostate, and the patients may need to return to theatre again in the future. Also, the patients have to be on catheter for longer times after TURP. The prostates in this country are so big that HoLEP is the best for them. The American Urological Association and the European Association of Urology both recommend HoLEP as the best for prostates that are more than 80 to 100g in size. The 2nd most common surgery we do is Laser Lithotripsy for Kidney Stones. Urology is our main discipline.”

Speaking on other feats, the medical director said, “This May, 2023 is also a milestone in the life of Kelina Hospital as we mark 5,000 surgical operations on 5,000 citizens without a single mortality inside our operating room since inception in 2008. We have not lost a single citizen inside our operating room after surgery in our hands since we opened. This is why the Federal Government of Nigeria recognized our efforts by awarding us a Pioneer Status in Minimally Invasive Surgery, in 2012.”

Apart from urological and General Surgery procedures, which is the hospital’s main focus, the medical director disclosed that that Kelina Hospital also receive patients for laparoscopic cholecystectomy for Gall stones, knee replacement surgery (Orthopaedics), laparoscopic hysterectomy for uterine fibroids(Gynaecology), Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (ENT), adding that there are other specialties like Obstetrics, Nephrology, Cardiology, Anaesthesia, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Paediatrics, Endocrinology, Dentistry, Plastic Surgery, Radiology, Pulmonology, to support patients.

Some of the equipment that have helped the hospital achieve these milestones include the 120 Watts laser, which was the first of that type of equipment in Africa and the 150 Watts laser, which was probably the first in Nigeria since January 2022, and is still the only one in Lagos State and the two Lithoclast Master machines, to operate kidney stones are the only two in Nigeria, he revealed.