Chennai doctors perform Robot-assisted heart surgery

In a landmark achievement, Chennai doctors have performed a heart surgery on two patients assisted by a robot.

By Jaikumar

Chennai, Jan.2 : In a landmark achievement, Chennai doctors have performed a heart surgery on two patients assisted by a robot.

The surgeries were performed at the Chettinad Health City Hospital. The operations were performed five days ago and the patients are on their way to recovery according to the doctors at the private hospital.

The robot-aided techniques enhance the recovery period reducing pain and blood loss. The surgeons used the new technology on two male patients who are in their twenties.

"All these things are beneficial for the patient in several ways. First, there is less tissue damage, and therefore, less bleeding and less blood-transfusion. Therefore, you get less infection because the stitches do not break," said Dr. Ravi Kumar, a Heart Surgeon, Chettinad Health City Hospital in Chennai.

"We are not traumatising the tissues that much and there is another thing that the pain is less, scaring is less so when you go back for another surgery later, you don't see that much of scaring, the scaring of the tissue is less," said Dr. Ravi Kumar.

One of the patients is 25-year-old, and was operated for atrial septal defect (hole in the heart. The other one is 28-year-old, who required the replacement of mitral valve (left atrioventricular valve).

Doctors said that the procedure was almost similar to that of a traditional operation. Instead of cutting through the sternum to reach the heart, the space between the ribs is used to carry out the surgery.

In open-heart surgery, the incision is around 20 centimetres while it is only four centimetres in the robotic-assisted surgery, the doctors noted.

This technique is preferred in countries like the United States and Germany, as it reduces tissue damage, blood loss and scars. It is less painful.

ANI