Asian Heart Institute recently conducted the first robot assisted cardiac surgery in Mumbai and western India. The da Vinci Si robotic surgical system with simulator at the institute is the latest third generation robot and the first of its kind in India. The institute has already successfully completed more than 75 robot assisted surgeries.
The team at the Asian Robotic Surgery Institute is led by Dr Ramakanta Panda, Vice Chairman and MD and Chief Consultant: Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery, Asian Heart Institute. The surgery was led and performed by Dr Sudhir Srivastava, Chairman and MD, of International Centre for Robotic Surgery. Dr Srivastava is one of the world’s leading surgeons in robotic cardiothoracic surgery and is credited to have performed more than 1,300 robotic cardiac surgeries.
Speaking on the procedure, Dr Panda said, “As opposed to traditional open heart surgery, robot assisted surgery is minimally invasive. This is beneficial since it means smaller cuts (incisions) of one or two centimetres only as compared to conventional surgery (10-12 inches), lesser pain and trauma, lesser blood loss, faster recovery time and lesser scars. In fact we were able to send the patient home in a couple of days. The procedure becomes less daunting for old and young alike.”
Dr Sudhir Srivastava, said “Open heart surgeries require the chest to be opened to access the heart which leads to a long recovery time, blood loss, trauma and increased risk of infection and leaves a lifelong ugly scar and patients are weary of getting it done. But through robotic assistance, we managed to reach the area through just four finger tip sized incisions. One can see just tiny incision marks from outside which will disappear with time. He is able to walk around and even return to his daily routine work within 48 hours of the surgery.”
Robotic cardiac surgery can be performed for congenital heart defects, bypass surgeries, valve repair and replacement and heart tumours.
EH News Bureau
- Advertisement -
