Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Mar;14(3):788-793.
doi: 10.21037/jtd-21-1109.

Thoracic surgery in United Arab Emirates

Redha Mohammed Souilamas  1 , Mateen Haider Uzbeck  1 , Yusuf Bayrak  1 , Nacira Guenif  1 , Fadi Hamed  1 , Irfan Shafiq  1 , Vivek Kakar  1 , Mahmoud Elkaissi  1 , Hicham Abada  1 , Fadi Younes  1 , Ashraf Alzaabi  1 , Zaid Zoumot  1 , Ali Wahla  1
Affiliations
Review

Thoracic surgery in United Arab Emirates

Redha Mohammed Souilamas et al. J Thorac Dis. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has undergone a significant change in its population and economy in the last decades and in parallel its healthcare system has evolved rapidly to provide advanced, innovative and world-leading care. At the forefront of this revolution in healthcare is the development of a multidisciplinary multimodality thoracic service provision, offered at quaternary referral hospitals amalgamating academics, training, research and innovation. Previously, thoracic service care was limited to single providers at various public and private hospitals, usually performing lower complexity cases. Most complex thoracic cases were repatriated outside the UAE. This practice was replaced with the opening of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD), in 2015, which created a multidisciplinary thoracic program. This included the start of a mini-invasive surgical and lung transplantation program. Since that time other public and private hospitals have emerged providing care in a similar model. The impact of these programs has been a decreased transfer of patients abroad for treatment. Under the umbrella of the Emirates Thoracic Society (ETS) a platform for greater collaboration aimed at improving patient care, potential research and physician education has been created. Direct links have been established with world-leading Thoracic surgery and Respiratory Medicine Centers facilitating this development and offering support and guidance. This article charts these changes in thoracic care in the recent past, present, and delineates plans for the future in the UAE.

Keywords: Thoracic surgery; United Arab Emirates (UAE); hybrid.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jtd.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jtd-21-1109/coif). The series “Thoracic Surgery Worldwide” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) Thoracic Program volume per year.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lim E, Batchelor T, Shackcloth M, et al. Study protocol for VIdeo assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy versus conventional Open LobEcTomy for lung cancer, a UK multicentre randomised controlled trial with an internal pilot (the VIOLET study). BMJ Open 2019;9:e029507. 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029507 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Worrell SG, Dedhia P, Gilbert C, et al. The cost and quality of life outcomes in developing a robotic lobectomy program. J Robot Surg 2019;13:239-43. 10.1007/s11701-018-0844-z - DOI - PubMed
    1. Guenif N. Achieving Holistic Sehha Through Cutting-edge Medicine in Contemporary Arab Muslim Societies. Keynote lecture, Innovation in Thoracic Disease Conference, November 18th 2016, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
    1. Available online: https://www.uae-embassy.org/about-uae/health-care
    1. Available online: https://www.who.int/countries/are/en/