Robotic surgery 12,000km away - Kuwait hospital wins Guinness record

03/10/2025 02:10 AST

Kuwait has earned a new Guinness World Record for the longest distance between a patient and a surgeon.

The record was set after a surgical team at Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital successfully performed a remote robotic surgery on a patient in Brazil, more than 12,000 km away.

The announcement was made at a press conference held at the headquarters of Zain Kuwait, the country's leading telecom operator, attended by the Minister of Health, Dr Ahmad Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi, the Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), Dr Ameenah Rajab Farhan, Zain Kuwait CEO Nawaf Al-Gharabally, and the Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital surgical team led by Dr Sulaiman Almazeedi, Dr Mohannad Alhaddad, and Dr Hmoud Alrashidi.

During the conference, the official representative of Guinness World Records presented record certificates to the Minister of Health, the surgical team, Zain, and KFAS, stating that surgical teams operating from Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital in Kuwait and from SCOLLA at Hospital Cruz Vermelha in Brazil officially attained the feat.

Guinness World Records statement
On 23 September 2025, surgical teams operating from Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital in Kuwait and SCOLLA in Hospital Cruz Vermelha in Brazil performed a series of robotic tele-surgery operations across a record-breaking distance of 12,034.92 km (7,480 miles) each way. The procedures were inguinal TAPP (transabdominal preperitoneal) repair, carried out using advanced robotic surgical systems connected over a secured high-bandwidth international network provided by Zain Telecommunications and supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).

The operations were made possible through the collaboration of surgeons, and scientists from Edge Medical and AUMET who successfully completed the surgery with an average latency of 199 milliseconds, an average bandwidth of 80 Mbps, and a packet loss of just 0.19%.

Both operations were completed successfully and safely, underscoring the feasibility of global collaboration in surgical care and setting a new benchmark in the field of remote robotic surgery. The surgeons were Dr Sulaiman Almazeedi, Dr Marcelo Loureiro, Dr Mohannad Alhaddad, Dr Ahmed Karim, Dr Hmoud Alrashidi, and Dr Leandro Totti Cavazzola.

This accomplishment underscores Kuwait's pioneering role in the field of remote digital surgery, relying on the latest medical technologies and Zain's state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure to deliver a global first, said a statement.

Dr Al-Awadhi said: "Kuwait's inclusion in the Guinness World Records with a medical and technological achievement of this magnitude is not merely a global record, it is a clear message that our national healthcare system is capable of standing at the forefront globally."

Dr Al-Awadhi added: "Our medical professionals have proven that when will is paired with science and technology, it breaks geographic barriers and makes Kuwait a global platform for medical innovation. This success is the fruit of the wise guidance and continued support of the nation's leadership, and it reflects a collective effort that brought together medical, technical, and administrative teams in partnership with Zain and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, so that the human being remains the goal and purpose of everything we do."

Director General of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences Dr Ameenah Rajab Farhan said: "It gives me great joy to write these words, words of innovation that span continents and transcend distances, as we celebrate a national achievement that places Kuwait on the map of global medical leadership with a world record in robotic surgery. The distance between the surgeon and the patient exceeded 12,000 km, which feels almost like fiction. It is an accomplishment that embodies the value of innovation when coupled with national medical excellence and advanced connectivity infrastructure, all in service of human health."

She added: "The Ministry of Health team, in partnership with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences and Zain, has proven that creativity, knowledge, and technology can come together to create historic impact. This success is not merely a technical feat or a record, but a clear message that investment in science and innovation directly improves people's lives and health."

Technical infrastructure and Zain's role
The project faced major technical challenges that required ensuring a fast and stable network connection between the two continents to avoid any delay that could affect the surgical workflow. Zain provided the communications infrastructure through advanced international MPLS technology, enabling a secure, high-speed link between Kuwait and Brazil.

As a result, the latency between surgeon and patient was under 0.2 seconds only, approximately 199 milliseconds, throughout the procedure. This record-low latency allowed the surgeons to control the robot almost in real time despite the vast distance. The highly reliable connection was a decisive factor in ensuring smooth, uninterrupted remote surgery, proving that Kuwait's infrastructure is ready to support global digital medical innovations, said the statement.