KARACHI: For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the life of an 11-year old boy, who had a 10 cm tumor in his brain, was saved using a highly sensitive and complex technique of stereotactic neurosurgery performed at a private hospital in Karachi.

Stereotactic neurosurgery is a form of surgical intervention that locates small targets inside the skull using a three-dimensional coordinate system and performs several types of procedures on them.

Dr Sattar Hashim, a renowned neurosurgeon and specialist in the complex and highly sensitive stereotactic neurosurgery performed at the Neurospinal and Cancer Care Institute (NCCI) in Karachi.

Under this procedure, a tiny hole was drilled in the child’s brain and a 200 ml tumor was extracted through a syringe.

Doctors at various hospitals had suggested an open brain surgery which is a costly procedure and the child’s family was unable to afford it.