Tajikistan’s medical community has achieved a groundbreaking surgical milestone: for the first time, specialists successfully performed an endoscopic cystogastrostomy without any surgical incision.

The procedure, carried out on a 22-year-old patient with a pancreatic cyst, marks a major step forward in minimally invasive surgery, The Caspian Post reports via Tajik media.

Oral Procedure, Fast Recovery

Doctors at the Republican Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery performed the operation entirely orally, eliminating the need for an abdominal incision. Led by Sorbon Musoev, head of the center’s diagnostics and treatment department, and ultrasound specialist Zumrad Mukhammadieva, the team carefully guided the procedure using ultrasound and X-ray imaging.

The pancreatic cyst, pressing against the stomach’s posterior wall, had caused severe pain, nausea, vomiting, and blocked food passage into the duodenum. Within 24 hours, follow-up imaging showed the cyst had shrunk to just 4 cm, and the patient was discharged shortly thereafter.

From Open Surgery to Cutting-Edge Innovation

Previously, patients with similar conditions required open surgery, involving abdominal incisions, longer hospital stays, and extended recovery periods. Endoscopic cystogastrostomy, a minimally invasive technique, creates a drainage channel between the cyst and the stomach, safely removing its contents without external cuts.

The successful procedure places Tajikistan on the map for advanced endoscopic surgery, following the country’s earlier milestone with the first deep brain stimulation surgery in Almaty.