Doctors in Pampanga and Cotabato have conducted what a government hospital described as the Philippines’ first long-distance, cross-regional telesurgery, operating on patients about 1,380 kilometers away.

The procedures connected Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga, and Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in Cotabato City through the SSI Mantra Robotic Surgery System.

JBLMGH surgeon Dr. Ryan Quiambao remotely performed a robotic cholecystectomy on a patient at CRMC. The procedure involves the removal of the gallbladder.

At the same time, CRMC surgeons Dr. Al-Jazzer Angas and Dr. Louis Gerard Agustin remotely performed the same procedure on a patient inside the operating room at JBLMGH.

JBLMGH said each procedure was completed safely in less than an hour and involved minimal blood loss.

The surgeries were performed at no cost to the patients under the Department of Health’s zero balance billing policy.

The hospitals said the milestone demonstrated how robotic telesurgery could help make specialized surgical services available to patients outside major medical centers.

“This cross-regional triumph was made possible by the dedicated coordination of administrative, clinical, and technical experts from JBLMGH and CRMC,” JBLMGH said.

The hospital thanked the surgery and anesthesiology departments, operating room nurses, biomedical technicians and hospital information management system teams from both institutions for supporting the procedures.

Health Secretary Edwin Mercado and Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda were among those who witnessed the operations.

Also present were Nanay party-list Rep. Florabel Yatco, DOH Central Luzon director Dr. Corazon Flores, JBLMGH Medical Center chief Dr. Monserrat Chichioco and CRMC Medical Center chief Dr. Ishmael Dimaren.

SS Innovations founder, chairman and chief executive officer Dr. Sudhir Shrivastava, who developed the robotic surgical system, traveled from New Delhi, India, to witness the event.

RBGM Medical Express Sales Inc. and SSI personnel provided technical support and helped maintain the internet connection used for the procedures.