Kinyuru Munuhe @kinyurumunuhe
A team of surgeons and doctors at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) have successfully conducted weight lose surgery on a 66-year-old obese man in what marks the first-ever such procedure in a Kenyan public hospital.
Before the procedure, John Muthama weighed 176 kilogrammes with a body mass index (BMI) of 59.5kg/m and had been diagnosed with class three obesity.
The bariatric surgery conducted on May 7 saw John Muthama lose 10 kilos and is expected to lose another 50 to 55 kilos in the next three weeks.
“In these surgeries, either a portion of stomach is removed or by-passed to reduce the amount of food one can eat,” KNH acting chief executive officer Evans Kamuri said.
Muthama had been admitted to the hospital for the last seven months before the doctors resolved to conduct the surgery that took two-and-a-half hours.
“Surgery is a last resort but we would like the public to know that if it comes to that, we are capable of doing it,” said Dr Mark Tharau, one of the lead surgeons.
