RIYADH — The Experimental Surgery and Animal Laboratory (ESAL), established in 1987 at the College of Medicine at King Saud University in Riyadh, provides medical research and training programs for various clinical and animal studies.

It also provides experimental animals and logistics support to the institution's researchers, with the aim of building a solid culture of research using national and international resources.

ESAL is one of the most prominent centers in its field due to its 12-bed surgical simulation room, the largest of its kind in the Middle East, equipped with various tools, such as surgical robots, microsurgical microscopes and laparoscopy devices, all used for training to perform various surgeries.

ESAL has rooms housing animals, for raising and maintaining pure-strain experimental animals brought from international laboratories, and an experimental operating suite equipped with the materials and tools needed to carry out most types of scientific research involving animal surgery.

It has an isolation room for animals with a system that maintains proper temperature and humidity levels, and a reverse-isolation room for animals with immune deficiency that requires periodical sterilization.

ESAL also provides a 10-bed operating theater with medical devices and a large area suitable for holding workshops, as well as administrative and technical staff to help researchers conduct workshops.

ESAL aims to provide administrative, scientific and logistic support to researchers at KSU Medical City and the Faculty of Medicine, as well as to those interested in experimental animal research.

The center also has as goals equipping researchers with the tools, materials, and devices that help them carry out successful training programs and workshops, and disseminate scientific animal research inside and outside ESAL.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Head of ESAL Dr. Motaz AlAqeel said that research and experiments carried out by the center are of great significance, both nationally and internationally.

He stressed that ESAL members seek to be the best in the field of experimental surgery and animal research, helped by the presence of a proper environment where researchers can carry out scientific researches and train in workshops. — SPA