Manipal Hospitals has set a new benchmark in the field of healthcare by performing breakthrough robotic thyroid and cancer surgeries for thyroidectomy and larynx cancer.

The medical breakthroughs, using robotic assistance, were performed by the doctors of the group’s flagship hospital at Bangalore led by Dr Somashekhar S P, HOD (Robotic Surgeon), Dr Shabber S Zaveri (Robotic Surgeon) from the Department of Surgical Oncology and Dr E V Raman from the Department of ENT.

Usage of Robotics in medical surgeries enables high 15X magnification, 3D image with stability, the adoption of Endowrist technology (this technology interprets and refines the surgeon's hand movement into more precise movements and gives the surgeon natural hand-eye coordination) and the automated application of multiple robotic arms, according Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, medical director, Manipal Hospitals, says.

With enhanced precision and minimal loss of blood, patients are discharged within 2–3 days of their surgery, with no/negligible scarring in the operated area and also ensuring a better quality of life, he added.

Robotic Thyroidectomy was performed on a 20 year old, suffering from thyroid tumour. She was discharged on the same day of the surgery with excellent cosmetics and functional outcome and had no scars on neck or face, and due care to the vocal box and parathyroid glands was ensured. With minimal blood loss, pain and discomfort, she was able to resume to normalcy and work within 3–4 days.

The benefits of robotic surgery are the excellent cosmetic outcome with no neck scars, reduced likelihood of recurrent laryngeal nerve damage and hence, excellent voice, less risk of parathyroid gland damage and reduced likelihood of numbness in the anterior neck.

The Hospital also performed the Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) on a 66 year old man suffering from larynx cancer However, with TORS, the patient has the advantages of avoiding disfiguring of jaw bones quicker normal speech and swallowing, significantly less pain, less blood loss, shorter hospital stay, faster recovery and no scars.

For the patient, the margins were all negative for malignancy and his recovery was very fast. He had no scars on his face or neck, no speech problems and no tracheostomy without any associated morbidity of swallowing.

According to Dr Somashekhar, SP, HOD, Department of Surgical Oncology, Manipal Hospital, “Robotic surgery will play a vital role in taking the healthcare industry to an all new level in future. Robotic technology not only addresses every aspect of the patient’s needs but also offers tremendous ease for surgeons.”