A Saudi medical team at King Abdul Aziz Medical City in National Guard - Riyadh has performed the first surgery First Auditory Brainstem Implant Surgery on a 3 years old child, he has been suffering from severe abnormalities in his inner ear since birth.
Deputy Executive Director of Medical Services in the Central Region, and the director of the Cochlear Implant Program Dr. Khalid Al Mazrou said that a Saudi medical team consisting of 15 specialists were able to successfully conduct the four-hours surgery and the child has recovered and now following up with the medical rehabilitation that is required after such surgeries.
Dr. Khalid pointed that pediatrics Auditory Brainstem Implant Surgery is one of the latest and unique techniques in the field of treating auditory disability, less than 200 similar cases were conducted around the world.
Furthermore, Dr. Khalid pointed out that an integrated Auditory Brainstem Implant Program will be established in King Abdul Aziz Medical City - Riyadh; to provide outstanding medical services for patients with hearing disabilities that the cochlear implant option doesn’t suit them.
He reported that the Cochlear Implant Program organizes semi-annual meetings to families of cochlear implant patients to shed the light on such rare cases, with the presence of a number of cochlear implant specialists, and patients who are already done the cochlear implant.
He clarified that the program patients children and adults who has done the cochlear implant in King Abdulaziz Medical City in National Guard, as well as establishing a dialogue with those the patient’s family to answer their questions, inquiries and their experiences with their children at King Abdul Aziz Medical City.
Cochlear Implant Program at King Abdul Aziz Medical City is one of the pilot medical programs in which the first electronic cochlear implant " CONCERTO " was performed; which is the world's smallest and lightest titanium implant, in addition to the new Inner Earphones implants "Sofuno", and moreover, the program screens newborn babies.