Kelina Hospital has performed over 50 robotic radical prostatectomy surgeries in one year, offering a less painful recovery and better functional outcomes for men with prostate cancer.
Its President, Dr Celsus Undie, made the disclosure during a news conference announcing the various medical milestones achieved by the hospital, on Saturday in Lagos.
Robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy is a procedure where the prostate gland and some surrounding tissue are removed, by the use of specialised robotic equipment.
It is a minimally invasive keyhole procedure that aims to remove all of the cancer.
Undie, a Consultant Urological Surgeon, noted that prostate cancer was the most common cancer affecting Nigerian men, noting that previously, patients used to travel abroad for its treatment.
“There is a lot of technology available now, and people do not have to wait until cancer has advanced or spread around the body.
“When cancer is confined to any organ, the best treatment is to take it out, along with that organ, so the person could survive without that part of the body.
“Once it spreads, treatment is not so effective.
“For prostate cancer, robotic surgery is less mutilating and much easier to do,” he said.
Undie disclosed that the hospital has been performing robotic prostate surgery weekly since June 2026, and has never given any patient blood transfusion since then.
The nerves responsible for erection run very close to the prostate gland, so prostate cancer surgery carries a risk of temporary or long-term erectile dysfunction, a major reason many men hesitate to undergo treatment.
Undie, however, stressed that cancer surgery is an urgent matter of life and death.
“If a man’s prostate cancer needs to be removed so he can live, the priority is not erection.
“Everybody’s erection is gone immediately after prostate cancer surgery. But a lot of the patients recover it naturally.
“Some patients require medications, some require injections, and some even require penile implants.
“We have medicine now that if you take just a 0.3 millilitre injection, no matter what happens, you have an erection. So we cannot put an erection ahead of the need to save a life,” he said.
Highlighting other achievements, Undie said the hospital successfully performed the first Robotic Radical Nephrectomy in Nigeria in 2025, further establishing its position in the advancement of robotic surgery in the country.
Robotic radical nephrectomy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that removes an entire kidney, its surrounding fat, and sometimes nearby lymph nodes or the adrenal gland using a surgeon-controlled robotic system.
“More than 50 per cent of our patients undergoing urological surgery are discharged within 24 hours, reflecting the efficiency of our surgical approach and our commitment to faster patient recovery.”
The president disclosed that the hospital’s robotic surgery programme is currently being handled purely by Nigerian surgeons resident in the country, helping to save lives through prompt access to treatment.
He called for increased government support to make affordable financing available to private hospitals to enable them to introduce more equipment, medical advancements and reduce medical tourism.
Similarly, Mr Ifeanyi Anago, Chairman, Board of Directors, Kelina Hospital, said the hospital has achieved over 7,000 surgery landmarks, reflecting its longstanding commitment to excellence in surgical care.
Anago noted that many of these patients were diabetic, had heart failure or kidney failure, with some of them previously rejected by other hospitals.
While achieving this feat, he disclosed that Kelina Hospital managed to keep a mortality figure not higher than 0.0007 per cent.
Similarly, Dr Kenechi Nedosa, Chief Medical Director, Kelina Hospital, Abuja, said the milestones achieved by the hospital through the advent of robotic surgery had given many patients a better quality of life.
“The first patient who ever had Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer in Nigeria as far back as 2012 is here with us in this conference, and he is well and healthy.”
Mr Joseph Ogah, the first patient who underwent Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy for prostate cancer at Kelina Hospital, attested to his improved health status.
“Before I performed the surgery in 2012, many people cautioned me that I would suffer erectile dysfunction after the procedure.
“I said, ‘I would rather die than not being able to perform sexually’. I can tell you authoritatively that I haven’t taken drugs since 2012; I am okay and sexually active,” he said.
Prostate cancer remains a major public health challenge in Nigeria, being the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men.
Data from the World Health Organisation and Global Cancer Observatory (IARC), estimated that 24,396 new prostate cancer cases are diagnosed annually in Nigeria.
The disease accounts for approximately 15,176 deaths per year in the country, translating to roughly 26 Nigerian men dying from prostate cancer every day. (NAN)www.nannews.ng
