NIMS completes 300 robotic surgeries in one year

Hyderabad: Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) has completed 300 robotic-assisted surgeries within a year of installing one of the advanced surgical robots, Da Vinci. It becomes one of the fastest among government hospitals in India to achieve this milestone. These surgeries include many complex procedures under the departments of urology, gastro-intestinal surgery, and surgical oncology.

Commenting on the achievement, NIMS director Dr Bheerappa Nagari said robotics surgery was one such emergent technology that was creating waves worldwide and now in India, improving clinical outcomes. The goal is to provide the best course of treatment for everyone. With the advent of cutting-edge technology being available, it is imperative to make the benefits of those available to all patients.

Dr Bheerappa said since the technology helped reduce the post-operative hospital stay, doctors were able to attend more cases every day. This has also resulted in reduced waiting periods for surgeries, from months to a few days. The departments are now getting patients who prefer to undergo robotic-assisted surgery, as the word of mouth of operated patients has helped us spread awareness about the benefits of RAS, he said.

NIMS Professor and Head, Department of Urology, and Coordinator for robotic surgery, Dr Rahul Devraj, said that the government support for this modern surgical technique was a significant step in making this novel technology available to all sections.

“I am proud that we are offering such technology-led services at NIMS. Using this state-of-the-art technology, we can address the complex anatomy and tumour involvement judiciously. In terms of technical feasibility, safety, and long-term oncological and other clinical outcomes, we found this approach to be a viable alternative to traditional techniques. We have also observed that patients who have undergone robotic-assisted surgeries have minimal pain; this has reduced their post-operative follow-up. The patients have also given very good feedback and have thanked the surgeons for providing them with great results post complex surgeries,” he added.