AIIMS robot performs rare cancer surgery

In a rare cancer surgery, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences removed seven body parts, including urinary bladder and ovaries, from a 50-year-old patient with assistance from a robot.

In a rare cancer surgery, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) removed seven body parts, including urinary bladder and ovaries, from a 50-year-old patient with assistance from a robot.

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P N Dogra, head of the department of urology, performed the robot-assisted "anterior pelvic exenteration" on a woman suffering from cancer of urethra and urinary bladder.

"In this operation the urinary bladder, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, anterior vaginal wall, urethra and pelvic lymph nodes were removed," Y.K. Gupta, a senior professor and chief spokesman of AIIMS, said.

"This was done for the first time in the country. It was a challenging surgery and required high-tech surgical skills," Gupta claimed.

Gupta said the AIIMS has initiated a drive to use the robot so that maximum number of patients can benefit.

"Facilities and programmes are being developed to do the advanced robotic surgery on prostate, urinary bladder and kidney, besides offering state-of-the-art robotic surgical technology to patients suffering from various urological diseases," he added.

The department of urology is developing a training programme in robotic surgery, including the virtual simulation system (RoSS - Robotic Surgical Simulator) for imparting this skill to future robotic surgeons.