CUTTACK: Shanti Memorial Hospital launched the first Robotic Surgery Centre of Excellence in the State on Thursday. As many as three surgeries were conducted using the robotic system (Versius) of CMR (UK) at the hospital on day one. Hospital authorities said the facility would be of much relief to people of Odisha as they would no longer have to travel to bigger cities for advanced surgeries. The cost of robotic surgery here will be one third of the same procedure performed in metro cities, CMD Dr Sreejoy Patnaik said.

He said every healthcare facility needs to keep pace with innovation in technology to thrive in the industry. “I am proud to state that my hospital has been following this mantra since inception. Introducing robotic surgery in Odisha was a long cherished dream and I feel this will be a turning point in the history of healthcare in Odisha,” he said.All surgeries done by laparoscopy can be done by using robots. They include  upper GI, hepato biliary and pancreas, kidney, spleen and liver, colorectal surgeries along with complicated cancer and bariatric procedures.

“In robotic surgery, the surgeon operates with higher magnification in 3D mode with minute precision. The robotic arms have the ability to reach inaccessible and small operating spaces. There is less contact of robotic instruments to the interior organs therefore reducing surgical site infection. The EndoWrist of the robotic instruments moves or rotates 720 degree compared to human wrists which rotate only 180 degree,” Dr Patnaik said.

Hospital director Dr CR Das said four doctors of the hospital went through a specialised training programme comprising 18 sessions to become certified robotic surgeons.ENT surgeon Dr Diptiman Baliarsingh said generally surgeons have to struggle to reach a particular area of a patient’s inner body during laparoscopic surgery due to various constraints of the procedure. But, robotic surgery has made it easy to reach out to these areas basically during ear, nose or thyroid related surgeries.

Oncology surgeon Dr Prashant Chandra Das said a major advantage of the procedure is magnification which enables surgeons to see a bigger picture of the affected area of a patient’s body. Surgeon Dr Rekha Das said that robotic surgery ensures precision, far less pain and very fast recovery for patients.