SGPGIMS completes 500 successful robotic surgeries

LUCKNOW: Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) has achieved a new landmark by completing over 500 successful robotic surgeries.

The SGPGIMS acquired robotic facility on April 2019, since than it had done over 500 cases.

The robotic surgical facility is shared among various departments like urology gastrointestinal surgery, cardiovascular and endocrine surgery.

The maximum cases have been performed by department of urology and renal transplantation that amounts to nearly 65 per cent of total, including paediatric urology and even kidney transplantation.

SGPGIMS is the first government centre to have performed kidney transplantation robotically, said the SGPGIMS spokesperson.

The department started performing robotic surgery from January 2021. There was a period disruption due to second wave of Covid-19 infection. Since then, the department performed 46 procedures.

Most of these are robot-assisted coronary artery bypass grafting (RACAB). This is a highly specialised operation for coronary artery disease, which is performed through holes and a small two inches incision.

The department has performed 38 such procedures till now and most of them have been multivessel disease. Other procedures are thoracic procedures that include excision of tumours, lung cyst and resection. Lobectomy (removal of a portion of lung), a complex operation, has been performed in the department too.

Robotic surgery, which is also called robot-assisted surgery, allows surgeons to perform many types of complex surgeries with more precision, flexibility and control that is not possible with conventional techniques like laparoscopy or even open surgery.

The robotic surgical system includes a camera arm and three to four mechanical arms with surgical instruments attached to them.

The surgeon controls the arms while seated at a computer console near the operating table. The console gives the surgeon a high-definition, magnified, 3-dimensional (3D) view of the surgical site. The surgeon leads other team members who assist during the operation.

Robotic surgery in real sense is a minimally invasive surgery that needs tiny incisions that leaves fine scars those are hardly noticeable (looks cosmetically appealing). It also involves less pain and blood loss and shorter hospital stay.

Robotic surgery is being offered at SGPGIMS at a fraction of the cost of corporate hospitals in private sector.