Tata hosp’s robotic surgeries benefit 500 patients

It was a year-and-a-half ago that tertiary cancer care hospital Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) in Mumbai conducted its first robotic surgery. So far, around 500 patients with inaccessible tumours have benefitted form the high-end technology available at the public sector hospital.

Neurosurgery, thoracic surgery, head and neck as well as gastrointestinal surgeries have benefitted from the technology. Dr CS Pramesh, professor and Chief of Thoracic Surgery in the Department of Surgical Oncology, said: “Robotic surgeries are expensive, so we use them only in cases where there is a considerable chance of better outcome or in cases where the tumours are inaccessible.” 

Robotic surgeries, on an average, cost Rs 1 lakh more than normal surgeries. At Tata about 60% of the surgeries are subsidised by the hospital. A total of 14 doctors and eight para-medical staff have been trained to conduct robotic surgery. 

The surgery is carried out by the doctor using instruments that require very small cuts and can reach tumours deep in the head as well. The recovery time tends to be faster. While AIIMS in Delhi and TMC in Mumbai are two of the public sector hospitals with the technology, there are some private sector hospitals who perform such surgeries at a premium cost to patients. “We are very selective about where it is used.  Many of the instruments cannot be reused more than 10 times which increases the cost,” added Dr Pramesh.