Rare Robotic Surgery Performed at Chettinad Health City in Chennai

A rare robotic heart surgery has been performed at the Chettinad Health City in Chennai. The surgery, which was carried out on a 23-year-old auto driver called D Vijayakanth, lasted four hours, hospital sources confirmed.

The surgery was conducted with an aim to replace both mitral and the aortic valve simultaneously. Dr R Ravi Kumar, director of the institute of cardiovascular disease, robotic surgery centre at the Chettinad Health City, said that robotic surgery was a recently introduced procedure in the country, but added that it was a most welcome future innovation in the medical field.

"The best part about using a robot in cardiac surgery is that the patient's heart need not be opened and the surgery can be done using a small 4cm incision. This is not possible with normal surgeries without a robot," Dr Ravi Kumar told The Times of India.

Robotic surgery has opened up whole new dimensions in precision-based surgeries globally. It is hoped that these surgeries would be widely used in future in India. This surgery, performed on D Vijayakanth, cost Rs 2.25 lakh.


Source: Medindia