Hospitals embrace expensive robotic surgeries

Hyderabad: An increasing number of hospitals are carrying out robot assisted surgeries, although expensive, as they offer numerous advantages to both patients and surgeons.

According to surgeons, these procedures will inevitably become more popular due to their benefits, while also becoming less expensive. After KIMS Hospital and Care Hospitals announced the launch of fully automated robotic systems in the past week, even the government hospital, MNJ Cancer Hospital, will start offering robotic assisted surgeries in a few months after procuring the necessary equipment.

Senior oncologist at MNJ Hospital Dr C. Sairam believes such procedures are preferable for certain surgeries, such as those carried out for prostate cancer. He said the equipment was expensive to procure, and each surgery requires the usage of equipment costing Rs 8 lakh because it is not possible to reuse it.

Surgeons say such surgeries would not just be used for complex surgeries but may become the norm in future. Dr Sai Laxman Anne, head of department (HoD, orthopaedics at Kondapur KIMS Hospitals, said the idea was also to standardise routine surgeries.

“Robot assisted surgeries will help surgeons operate on as many people as possible while maintaining the same accuracy, and eliminate human fatigue. For example, while sawing through bone, the robot will provide uniform cutting, generate less heat, reduce soft tissue trauma and chances of infection and lead to lesser post-operative pain,” he said.

While the prohibitive cost could be an issue right now, it could get better with more players entering the manufacturing field. “The procedure is quite expensive, as there are only a couple of firms in the world which manufacture medical robots. Once they are manufactured locally, the rate may drop by 6-7 times,” said Dr Kishore B. Reddy, HoD, orthopedics and orthopaedics oncology at Amor Hospital.

Chief of Medical Services, CARE Group, Dr Nikhil Mathur said such surgeries were being used in all major medical specialities such as neurology and gynaecology. “The expense depends from procedure to procedure and from robot to robot, but it is definitely a little higher than laparoscopic surgeries. As technology advances, the procedures will further improve,” Dr Mathur said.