Aster Medcity, the first and the only hospital in Kerala to have robotic surgery unit and a specialised Minimal Access Robotic Surgery (MARS) team, comprising six doctors has recently conducted a series of 30 robotic surgeries. Doctors from each of Aster Medcity’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) conducted surgeries for the specialties - Gynecology, Bariatric surgery, Oncology, Urology and Surgical Gastroenterology.

Dr. Harish Pillai, chief executive officer, Aster Medcity, says “Aster Medcity keeps up with its commitment of pioneering advanced healthcare technology with unmatched medical expertise by introducing and successfully conducting the first series of robot-assisted surgeries in Kerala. Hence, Aster Medcity proves to be a world class quaternary healthcare destination in South Asia.”

Dr. Kishore T A, Consultant Urologist and Transplant surgeon and his team conducted Kerala’s first robotic surgery in Urology on a 61 year old male from Kerala suffering from prostate cancer. Post the surgery, the patient recovered completely in two weeks. Speaking on the benefits of the surgery, Dr. Kishore said, “The technique is extremely valuable in radical prostatectomy (for prostate cancer) and certain major urological surgeries such as bladder and kidney cancer cases. Owing to the technique, there is lesser chance of urine leak and more chances of serving potency after the surgery.”

More than 30 surgeries successful robotic surgeries have been done at Aster Medcity till date.

Dr. Mayadevi Kurup, Senior Consultant, Women’s Health and her team performed Kerala’s first robot assisted gynecological surgery on a 30 year old woman from Kerala for a benign ovarian tumour. Commenting on this feat, Dr. Mayadevi says, “Robotic surgery is being increasingly preferred to open surgery or laparoscopic surgery for most gynecology related operations including benign ovarian tumor, complex hysterectomy, fibroids in the uterus, lymph node dissection for uterine cancer& cervical cancer and severe endometriosis.” Dr. Mayadevi and her team conducted a total of 5 robot assisted surgery most of them being complex hysterectomies.

Dr. Prasad Krishnan, Consultant, Surgical Gastroenterology and his team conducted the first robotic bariatric surgery in Kerala on a 35 year old woman from Kerala weighing 136.7 kg. Commenting on the surgery, Dr. Krishnan says, “The morbidly obese lady with a high BMI and a history of hypothyroidism and hypertension was first evaluated by Aster Medcity’s Obesity care team. She lost about 10 kgs in a week after the surgery.”

Dr. Syam Vikram, Consultant Surgical Oncologist, and his team conducted the first colo-rectal surgery (large intestinal surgery) in Kerala and became the third surgical oncology department in South India to perform robotic surgery in Oncology. Commenting on the surgery, Dr. Vikram says, “The surgery was conducted on a 62-year-old patient from Kovalam diagnosed with bowel cancer. The patient had a history of passing blood in stool. This achievement has taken cancer care system in Kerala to international standards.”

Dr. Iyoob V A, Consultant in Surgical Gastroenterology operated on a 50 year old male Omani patient; Robotic Thoraco Laparoscopic Esophagectomy was done to remove his food pipe from the chest cavity. Commenting on the new technology, Dr Iyoob says, “Robotic surgery is a new developing technology in surgery which is extremely useful in the challenging Esophagectomy operation.”

Dr. Shameema Anvar Sadath, Consultant in Women's Health and her team successfully conducted total robotic hysterectomy for a patient with multiple fibroids and abnormal, heavy, prolonged bleeding. She also used robotic assisted surgery to surgically remove fibroids from the uterus of a woman who has never given birth. Speaking on the benefits of the surgery, Dr. Sadath says, “Robotic assisted surgery while retaining all advantages of minimally invasive surgery, overcomes its disadvantages. The surgical technique provides better precision, is lesser painful and requires shorter hospital stay.”

Robot assisted or computer assisted surgery is conducted using the da Vinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical Inc.), a state-of-the-art telesurgical, master-slave robotic system which replicates the surgeon’s exact movements on the master controls onto robotic instruments in the patient using their EndoWrist technology. Instead of using the surgery instruments by hand, robotic arms are used which are controlled by efficient surgeons with the help of advanced computers. Robotic surgery has opened up new avenues in the near future in surgical practice.