Nigerian Egyptian surgeons perform coclear system surgical interventions in Kaduna

Specialist surgeons successfully carried out surgery interventions of coclear implants on children with deep hearing loss at the Kaduna Jowako Specialist Hospital.

The procedures were conducted by Prof. Mohammed Garba Mainasara, consultant (ear, nose and throat) and the surgeon of the head and neck, together with Prof. Ahmed Mahanna, an expert in the cochlear implantation of the School of Medicine, Egypt.

By explaining the meaning of the surgical intervention, Prof. Mainasara said that the coclear system is performed on patients with complete hearing loss, including one -year children and adults who have lost hearing through diseases or drugs.

He observed that the operation provides for the positioning of a device that wanders the damaged parts of the ear to directly stimulate the auditory nerve, allowing the brain to perceive the sound. He added that the early detection is fundamental, revealing that the JoWako hospital has started the screening of newborn hearing to identify anomalies soon and plan interventions.

Prof. Mahanna, who opened the way for Coclear System Surgery to Kaduna in 2020, described the device as a change of life. “Some patients born in the deaf now now attend regular schools and have continued to become professionals after a successful system. This surgery is only the beginning: the next phase is vocal and auditory rehabilitation, which helps children to live a normal life like their peers,” he said.

He explained that the device used-the medical electronics (Med-El) by Austria-is expensive and usually paid by patients in Nigeria. He therefore urged the federal government to subsidize the cost, as seen in countries such as Tanzania and India.

“Some African countries pay for the device. The Nigerian government can do the same so that surgeons concentrate only on the system,” Mahanna stressed.

Since 2020, the same team has successfully performed more than 30 surgical surgery of Coclear plant in Kaduna.

Even the beneficiaries families have appealed for the intervention of the government, observing that the device costs over N35 million, putting it out of reach for many families.

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