Wednesday 30 / September / 2026
Muscat: Khoula Hospital recently began to implement the Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) technology to treat drug-resistant epilepsy. This initiative constitutes part of the hospital's efforts to expand specialized therapeutic services for epilepsy patients.
The implementation of this technology caps up the hospital's ongoing efforts to develop its surgical epilepsy treatment programme and provides advanced treatment options for patients who do not respond adequately to conventional medications, thereby enhancing the localization of specialized medical services within the Sultanate of Oman.
Dr. Ahmed bin Suleiman Al Azri, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon who heads the Neurosurgery Unit at Khoula Hospital, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that Khoula Hospital’s launch of the VNS technology sets a new milestone in the hospital’s epilepsy treatment programme. He noted that the implementation of this technology is the outcome of integration among the hospital’s neurosurgery, neurology and epilepsy teams.
Dr. Ahmed pointed out that expanding these services helps minimize the need to refer such cases for treatment abroad and provides patients with advanced, specialized treatment options within the national healthcare system. He affirmed that the upcoming phase will see the introduction of specialized surgeries under the epilepsy treatment programme. He added that this would consolidate cooperation and partnerships with specialized regional and international centres and facilitate the exchange of expertise and knowledge and keep pace with the latest therapeutic practices and technologies in the field.
The step aligns with efforts to localize epilepsy surgery services in the Sultanate of Oman and provide patients with advanced treatment options to control seizure frequency and improve the patients’ quality of life, Dr. Ahmed observed.
