By using robotic technology, the doctors were successful in removing a tennis ball-sized tumour and saving the girl’s kidney
Representational image of two doctors conducting robotic surgery. AFP
A 15-year-old girl who was living with only one kidney and a tennis ball-sized cyst was recently operated upon with the help of robotic surgery at a Delhi hospital.
By using robotic technology, the doctors were successful in removing the tumour while saving the kidney, according to a report by The Indian Express.
What is robotic surgery
As per Mayo Clinic, robotic surgery, also called robot-assisted surgery, allows doctors to perform many types of complex procedures with more precision, flexibility and control than is possible with conventional techniques.
Robotic surgery is usually associated with minimally invasive surgery — procedures performed through tiny incisions. It is also sometimes used in certain traditional open surgical procedures.
The most widely used clinical robotic surgical system includes a camera arm and mechanical arms with surgical instruments attached to them. The surgeon controls the arms while seated at a computer console near the operating table. The console gives the surgeon a high-definition, magnified, 3D view of the surgical site. The surgeon leads other team members who assist during the operation.
Benefits of Robotic surgery
Since a camera along with a mechanical arm is inserted into an incision, it offers a superior vision of the operation area to the surgeon who conducts the surgery from a computer console.
The instruments can rotate 360 degrees and offer a high definition real time view of the surgery. Since it only requires the surgeon to complete the surgery, it needs a minimal number of assisting staff, reducing the burden on a hospital’s staff.
The advanced robotic technology allows for more complex surgeries with ease compared to what is possible with conventional surgery.
What was the special case?
Deepali was born with development abnormalities that caused both her kidneys to fuse together on the left side. She had no right kidney. Not only that, she had a tennis ball-sized cyst in the fused kidney.
According to the report, doctors at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital removed the cyst with robotic surgery, saving her unique kidney, avoiding a transplant and giving her a new life.
The location of the cyst was complex as it had developed on an overlapping area of the ureter, renal arteries and veins. The renal vessels and ureter were also intermingled with the cyst. If a normal surgery had gone wrong it would have completely destroyed the kidney.
“Given the delicacy of the surgery, we had to stop the renal artery for some time, we had just a window of 12 to 20 minutes. That’s why I chose a high-precision robotic surgery. Not only were we able to execute it neatly, we were able to save the kidney,” said Dr Surender Dabas, Senior Director & HOD, Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery, BLK- Max Super Specialty Hospital.
The doctor added that she successfully underwent robotic excision of the cystic mass.
“Making use of robotic technology, meticulous dissection of the surrounding structures, blood vessels and ureters, the team was successfully able to dissect the cystic mass with minimal blood loss and preserve the surrounding structures,” Dr Dabas explained, as reported by The Indian Express.
With inputs from agencies
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