UAE: Doctors react to distress call from abroad, successfully perform spinal surgery on patient

A call seeking help never goes unanswered at hospitals in the UAE. And this one came on SEHA’s telemedicine service from abroad, some 11,000 kilometres away from Abu Dhabi. Doctors from Al Ain’s Tawam Hospital reacted swiftly to the phone call, the patient flew in, and a minimally invasive spinal surgery was successfully performed to ease her severe spinal pain.

Dr M Ziad Aljian, consultant orthopaedic, Tawam Hospital under Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), noted that the patient had been suffering from a severe spinal condition resulting in chronic and debilitating pain for more than nine years. The adverse impact on her quality of life and barriers to care in her home country persuaded her to consider medical tourism.

“The patient reached out to us through our telemedicine service and was in extreme pain at the time of her diagnosis. Our team at Tawam is well-equipped to provide medical assistance to overseas patients in need. The minimally invasive spinal surgery was a success. The patient was mobilised, through physiotherapy, the very next day. She was discharged after three days. In two weeks, she was back in her home country and was monitored by our team through regular telemedicine follow-ups. Today, she has a normal, pain-free life,” Dr Aljian said.

The patient, suffering from a severe issue of the L5S1 disk, reached out to Dr Aljian after learning about his success in complex spine surgeries.

“We had heard about Dr Ziad Aljian. When he looked at my MRIs, he agreed there is an issue and I need to be helped,” the patient said.

Dr Aljian noted the case as a glowing example of Abu Dhabi’s growing medical tourism landscape.

SEHA, the UAE’s largest healthcare network, has seen its extensive telemedicine services become primary communication channels for overseas patients seeking specialised medical care in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi’s robust healthcare system, with its highly trained medical professionals, is fast making it the city of choice for medical tourism. According to the 2020 Medical Tourism Index ranking, Abu Dhabi was ranked the 8th best global destination for medical tourism.