Qatar's first navigated spine surgery in private healthcare: Precision meets innovation

In a groundbreaking achievement for Qatar s private healthcare sector, Dr. Sirajeddin Belkhair, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon and Director of Neurosc...

In a groundbreaking achievement for Qatar's private healthcare sector, Dr. Sirajeddin Belkhair, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon and Director of Neurosciences at DOC Medical Center, successfully performed the nation's first navigated spine surgery in a private hospital at View Hospital. Combining cutting-edge computer-assisted navigation with pioneering virtual reality surgical planning, this milestone represents a transformative leap in surgical precision and patient safety for Qatar and the wider GCC region.

When Millimeters Make All the Difference

The spine is unforgiving terrain. Thread a screw one millimeter off course, and you risk nerve damage, paralysis, or the need for revision surgery. Thread it perfectly, and you restore mobility, eliminate pain, and transform a life. For decades, spine surgeons have walked this tightrope between healing and harm, relying on experience, fluoroscopy, and steady hands.

But what if surgeons could see through bone? What if they could rehearse the operation in three dimensions before making a single incision? What if technology could guide every instrument with GPS-like precision?

Dr. Sirajeddin Belkhair, a North American–trained neurosurgeon with decades of pioneering work across continents, recently performed something no surgeon in Qatar's private healthcare sector had achieved before: a fully navigated spine surgery using real-time computer-assisted guidance combined with virtual reality pre-surgical planning.