# Pakistan's first robotic telesurgery: SZABMU surgeon removes a gallbladder in Islamabad from a remote console

Source: Searchable (https://searchable.pk/news/health/pakistans-first-robotic-telesurgery-szabmu-surgeon-removes-a-gallbladder-in)
Type: News article
Author: Searchable Editorial
Published: 5 Nov 2026
Updated: 5 Nov 2026
Retrieved: 5 Nov 2026

> Prof. Syed Tanseer Asghar operated from a conference hall while the patient lay at Kulsum International Hospital. SZABMU now plans a robotic surgery and AI centre.

**A surgeon in Islamabad has removed a patient's gallbladder using a robot he controlled from a different building**, in what Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) describes as Pakistan's first robotic telesurgery, [ProPakistani reported](https://propakistani.pk/2026/11/05/pakistan-performs-first-robotic-telesurgery/) on Thursday, 5 November.

## What happened

- **The operation:** a cholecystectomy, the standard operation to remove the gallbladder, usually done for gallstones.
- **The surgeon:** Prof. Dr. Syed Tanseer Asghar, a robotic surgeon and SZABMU's registrar.
- **Where he sat:** at the International Conference on Future of Healthcare (FHCC 2026) at the Gandhara Heritage and Culture Centre in Islamabad, steering the robotic instruments over a live data link.
- **Where the patient was:** in the operating theatre of **Kulsum International Hospital, Islamabad**, with a surgical team at the bedside.

It was a demonstration, carried out in front of a conference audience, rather than the start of a regular telesurgery service.

## Why telesurgery matters in Pakistan

In telesurgery the surgeon's hands move controls at a console, and the robot copies those movements on the patient, with video sent back in real time. The promise for Pakistan is reach: a specialist in Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi could one day operate on a patient in a district hospital in south Punjab, interior Sindh, Balochistan or Gilgit-Baltistan without either of them travelling.

The limits are real too. A remote operation needs a fast, stable connection with almost no delay, a robot at the patient's end, and a trained team ready to take over by hand if the link drops. SZABMU itself says wider use depends on "the availability of appropriate infrastructure, clinical safeguards and regulatory frameworks".

## What comes next

SZABMU vice chancellor **Prof. Dr. Tanwir Khaliq** has secured approval for the university's first **Robotic Surgery and Artificial Intelligence Health Centre**, to train surgeons and run research on robotic and AI-assisted care. No opening date or cost has been announced.

## If you need gallbladder surgery now

For patients today, nothing changes: gallbladder removal in Pakistan is done mainly by laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery at the bedside. If you are comparing options, see the [hospitals in Islamabad](/businesses/hospitals/islamabad) in our directory and ask each hospital for a written package price before admission.

## Frequently asked questions

**What is robotic telesurgery?**

An operation in which a surgeon at a remote console controls a surgical robot at the patient's bedside over a live data link, with a team present to take over if needed.

## Sources

- Pakistan Performs First Robotic Telesurgery (5 Nov 2026) (ProPakistani): https://propakistani.pk/2026/11/05/pakistan-performs-first-robotic-telesurgery/

How to cite: "Pakistan's first robotic telesurgery: SZABMU surgeon removes a gallbladder in Islamabad from a remote console", Searchable, 5 Nov 2026, https://searchable.pk/news/health/pakistans-first-robotic-telesurgery-szabmu-surgeon-removes-a-gallbladder-in