Kenyatta National Hospital Successfully Performs its First-Ever Bariatric Surgery

Kenya's largest health facility, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) has successfully carried out its first-ever Bariatric Surgery.

Bariatric Surgery is a type of operation that helps a patient to reduce their weight.

The procedure also helps patients to normalize their blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, and resolve joint problems among other benefits.

Speaking on Friday, KNH acting CEO Evanson Kamuri said this is the first time such a procedure has been done by a public hospital in the country.

“A multidisciplinary team of surgeons, doctors and nurses successfully carried out first Bariatric surgery of its kind in KNH on 66-yr old John Muthama who before had been diagnosed with class 3 obesity,” said Kamuri.

Before the operation, Muthama was weighing 176kgs with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 59.5kg/m2 and had developed multiple problems due to obesity.

“I encourage Kenyans grappling with weight issues to visit Kenyatta because the government has built three more complexes for minor surgeries and now we can comfortably conduct three surgeries in a day,” Kamuri said.

The official said the more than one hundred Kenyans who travel abroad annually to have expensive weight reduction surgery can consider KNH as a cheaper alternative.

Kennedy Odede, who headed a team of surgeons that performed the procedure said Muthama underwent sleeve gastrectomy, where 80 percent of his stomach was removed, leaving a tube-shaped stomach with the size and shape of a banana.

He said this restricts the amount of food one can take, which consequently leads to weight loss.

Bariatric Surgery is only performed on individuals with a BMI above 40 and especially to people who experience health problems like type two diabetes and heart disease.

“This surgery abroad costs not less than Sh1.5 million. The same surgery we have done in one and a half hours and it cost less than Sh500,000,” said Odede.