Dr Abdul Salam Al Belushi is one of the UAE's most accomplished surgeons. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Dr Abdul Salam Al Belushi is one of the UAE's most accomplished surgeons. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Dr Abdul Salam Al Belushi is one of the UAE's most accomplished surgeons. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Dr Abdul Salam Al Belushi is one of the UAE's most accomplished surgeons. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Emirati neurosurgeon returns to carry out groundbreaking robotic spine surgery


Daniel Bardsley
  • English
  • Arabic

An Emirati neurosurgeon has carried out leading-edge robotic spinal operation in Abu Dhabi, a first-of-its-kind procedure for the Middle East and Africa.

The operation by Dr Abdul Salam Al Belushi is the start of what is hoped will be wider use of robotic technology in UAE neurosurgery, with surgeons in the country trained in the technique.

For Dr Al Belushi himself, undertaking the work in his home nation is a major milestone after 25 years spent training and practicing as a neurosurgeon in the US.

“This is the first place in the entire Middle East and Africa where this surgery has been conducted [and] by an Emirati neurosurgeon,” he said.

You cannot beat the feeling of a life-transforming surgery for a patient now able to carry out a normal life who would have otherwise lived the life of a paraplegic
Dr Abdul Salam Al Belushi

Rather than carrying out the operation freehand, surgeons carrying out robotic surgery are assisted by robots that help them place pedicle screw instruments, which are metal objects used during minimally invasive spinal surgery, “exactly where they belong”.

There are many advantages to robotic surgery, Dr Al Belushi said, including precision, lower rates of complications, less bleeding, quicker recovery, shorter hospital stays and a reduced likelihood that additional operations will be needed.

“It’s the next iteration of minimally invasive spinal surgery, which is transforming the world of spinal surgery,” said Dr Abdul Salam, who began carrying out robotic surgery in 2018.

“It’s a humbling opportunity for me to represent my country at the highest level and to see the leadership of the country embracing technology available in very few countries in the world, to make it available to the Emirati and the local population.”

Dr Al Belushi, a fellow of the American Society of Neurosurgeons, said he wished to express his “sincere gratitude” to President Sheikh Mohamed for his “generous support in making history” in Abu Dhabi.

“The vision of the leadership is to set the highest standard of health care, and allow others in the region and from far to seek the UAE as a healthcare hub and to embrace medical tourism,” he said.

Robotic surgery is highly complex and requires extensive training and expertise. Photo: PA
Robotic surgery is highly complex and requires extensive training and expertise. Photo: PA

Ultimately, Dr Al Belushi, who studied and worked for 16 years in the US to become a neurosurgeon and has been working as a consultant neurosurgeon in the US since finishing his training, hopes to move back to the UAE full time and to train surgeons here to carry out robotic surgery.

He moved to the US when he was 18 to complete an undergraduate degree in Kentucky and medical school in Ohio.

He undertook a one-year medical internship at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio before six years of neurosurgery training at the University of Louisville, followed by a fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

He lives in Dallas, Texas and carries out about 450 surgeries a year at several hospitals in the area.

About 85 per cent of his work is spinal surgery and around 15 per cent brain surgery, and his patients have ranged in age from 17 to 90 years.

While the training to become a neurosurgeon is long and demanding, Dr Al Belushi said the work was highly rewarding as it offered the chance to transform lives.

For example, a women in her 20s who had been in a car accident and whose legs were paralysed from a spine fracture was able to regain complete function as a result of a highly risky and complex operation carried out by Dr Al Belushi.

“You cannot beat the feeling of a life-transforming surgery for a patient now able to carry out a normal life who would have otherwise lived the life of a paraplegic,” he said.

As well as pioneering the use of robotic surgery in the UAE, Dr Al Belushi is also looking to use stem cell therapy to help regenerate spinal discs, which are pads between the vertebrae, in people with lumbar disc disease, where the discs bulge out from the spine.

Stem cells, which are produced by bone marrow, have yet to turn into any particular specialised type of cell. They can be injected into the discs of the spine to repair damage from disease.

Dr Al Belushi is thankful to Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Co-existence, for his support in the future use of stem cell therapy in the UAE.

Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

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What is the FNC?

The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning. 
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval. 
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
 

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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The flights

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Updated: August 01, 2022, 7:12 AM`