The Tawau Hospital Neurosurgery team shared by the Sabah Health Department.
KOTA KINABALU: Tawau Hospital now has its own neurosurgery services unit, making it easier for patients to get treatment without having to travel to Kota Kinabalu or elsewhere for the procedure.
Sabah Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said in the past, people from Tawau and nearby east coast districts had to be referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu for neurosurgery.
She said an in-house neurosurgeon was stationed at the Tawau Hospital starting May to ensure the safety of all patients and so that they would have proper post-operative care and follow-ups.
"The neurosurgeon will do all the work including being active on-call, ward rounds, clinics, surgery - both elective and emergency surgeries," she said when contacted.
"We have a young neurosurgeon who is very hardworking and dedicated to his work," Dr Rose added, congratulating the Tawau Hospital neurosurgery team for their first procedure on May 5.
She also said that with neurosurgery services available in Tawau, patients and their families can save money and time.
She said this would also allow complex, high-risk and life-saving procedures to be conducted then and there.
Dr Rose said the first victim to undergo the procedure was a 55-year-old woman from Tawau with Meningioma with Subdural Haemorrhage and Significant Midline Shift, a type of tumour on the brain membrane on May 5.
"The surgery led by Dr Ramani Thiagarajah and his team was very successful," she said.
She said the patient was already in a critical stage when she underwent the operation.
"The patient is now being treated and closely monitored in the Intensive Care Unit and is in stable condition," she said.
In the past, patients would need to travel up to seven hours (by road) or take a flight if they needed to come to Kota Kinabalu for neurosurgery while their families needed to fork out all other expenses including for accommodation and transport.
