5 Extra-Ordinary Surgeries Doctors Performed Putting Kenya on World Map

Kenyan doctors have, in the recent past, made major achievements in the medical field by constantly pushing the limits of possibilities.

From entirely separating conjoined twins, to reconstructing a chopped off penis and performing mind-bending brain surgeries, Kenyan surgeons have really marked their spot on the world map.

That is despite them being few in number.

Below are five mind-blowing surgeries recently performed by surgeons in Kenya.

5. Surgery to remove a blood clot in the Brain

Brain surgeries can be dangerous but if the ones performed by medics at Nakuru County Referral Hospital are anything to go by, then anything is possible.

In October 2018, doctors at the hospital successfully embarked on a surgery seeking to get rid of tumours from brains of four patients.

The surgery was carried out in 12 hours with an average time of three hours per patient who were all fully awake during the operations.

4. Surgery to remove a bullet from Baby Osinya’s brain

In the aftermath of a 2015 terror attack in Church in Likoni, Mombasa, a one-year-old baby was left orphaned with a bullet dangerously lodged in his brain.

Medics at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), however, embarked on the removal of the bullet from Baby Satrin Osinya’s brain nearly 12 months since the attack took place.

Dr Peter Gicheru Mwangi led a team of four neurosurgeons in the surgery that turned out successful.

The surgery had been delayed since there was no specialist to evaluate damages caused by the bullet.

3. Surgery on Irene Murigu’s brain to get rid of a tumour

In October 2015, a team of neurosurgeons from KNH also performed delicate surgery on Irene Murigu’s brain to remove a tumour.

The surgery was carried out in collaborations with doctors from the University of Toronto in Canada and Egerton University and was carried out at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital, Nakuru.

2. Re-attaching teenager’s penis

In January 2019, a group of surgeons at KNH took 15 hours to successfully reconstruct a teenage boy’s penis that had been fully chopped off in December 2018.

The boy was reportedly attacked by unknown assailants in Embu County before he was admitted to a nearby Health Centre where the organ was stored in a freezer.

1. Separation of conjoined twins

In November 2016, a group of 60 doctors earned worldwide praise after successfully separating twins aged two years.

The children were born conjoined at the lower back and were separated at KNH in a surgery that lasted 23 hours.

The surgery earned the medics accolades with President Uhuru Kenyatta thanking them for their outstanding work, dedication and a great sense of civic duty.