A government hospital in Sarawak has made history with the state’s first unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) spine surgery.
It is also believed to be the first UBE procedure performed at a district hospital, highlighting the ability of such facilities to provide high-quality treatment despite resource constraints.
Hospital Sibu neurosurgeon Dr Nelson Yap Kok Bing, who headed the operation, said the success was not just a clinical achievement but proved that geographical factors and hospital status should not be barriers to modern and minimally invasive treatments.
The procedures, he said, had been performed at Health Ministry’s (MOH) tertiary hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia.
In his post on social media, Dr Yap said that the UBE surgery in Sibu was performed without any additional fees to the patient.
“Our goal is to ensure that endoscopic spine treatment is accessible to the people of central Sarawak without burdening them financially,” he said.
Dr Yap said that after completing his spine fellowship training at Wooridul Spine Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, his desire to introduce endoscopic spine surgery in Sibu faced major challenges especially in the high cost of equipment.
He noted that uniportal endoscopic surgery could incur very high equipment costs, making it unsustainable to be carried out widely in district hospitals.
However, he said continuous efforts for almost two years to gather specific surgery equipment through official MOH channels finally enabled the procedure to be performed at the Sibu hospital.
Commenting on the case, Dr Yap said the 70-year-old female patient − who was given the surgery for free − had been experiencing severe lower back pain for more than six months due to spinal stenosis.
“The surgery went smoothly without major complications and was completed earlier than expected,” he said, adding that the procedure could take up to 10 hours in some cases.
Dr Yap stressed that the success was the result of teamwork, involving the anaesthesia team and operating room nurses who showed high commitment and endurance throughout the procedure.
“With the availability of UBE spine surgery services in Sibu, Hospital Sibu is now ready to step up to the next level in spine treatment, thus providing real benefits to the people of central Sarawak through more minimally invasive surgery with optimal treatment outcomes,” Dr Yap added.
