If you have been diagnosed with a condition that requires you to undergo surgery, you might have heard your doctor talk about getting the procedure done using robotic surgery. You might be confused about the benefits of choosing robotic surgery over the traditional form, so, to help you make a more informed decision, Dr Mangesh Patil, Consultant Urologist & Robotic Surgeon , Asian Institute of Robotic Surgery, gives you ten reasons why robotic surgery is better than the conventional method.
What is robot assisted surgery?
The Da Vinci robot is a tool through which the surgeon performs a surgery with greater precision. It is important to remember that the robot is fully controlled by the surgeon and does not perform any part of the operation independently. It is a way to achieve better results during a procedure while helping the patient undergo a much lesser invasive process.
Advantages:
1. It is highly precise
Imagine the brain of a man and the precision of a robot put together to produce the most precise surgical procedure. That is what robotic surgery allows a patient to experience. Be it a complicated cardiac surgery, urological procedure of one involving the delicate reproductive organs of a patient, robot assisted surgery cuts out some of the common side effects and risks involved in the same surgery done by the conventional method. For example, if a patient is undergoing a prostectomy, a traditional procedure would impair the man's ability to have an erection or lead a normal sexual life. In contrast, when performed with robotic surgery, this risk is negated, allowing him to go back to normal life quicker.
2. Can be used for a large variety of surgeries
Be it a urological procedure, a complicated cardiac surgery, gyenecological procedure, gastrointestinal or ENT procedure, it can be done by robotic surgery. Because of its ability to conform to any type of organ and apply the surgeon's expertise in a precise manner, robotic surgery has grown in notoriety. Major procedures such as removal of tumours, heart surgery and gynaecological surgery that would traditionally require the scalpel to make large and deep cuts in the body and consequent blood loss can now be done with robotic arms. (Read: Thyroid surgeries without scars, thanks to the Robotic Surgical Systems)
3. Is less painful
In the case of robotic assisted surgery there is no large open cut. The surgeon makes small incisions around the area to be operated upon and inserts the probes through that. Since it is minimally invasive and results in lesser pain and discomfort for the patient.
4. There is lesser blood loss
Smaller incisions mean lesser blood loss. This beats the need for blood transfusions and reduces the risk of complications due to blood loss.
5. Quicker recovery and lesser chances of infection
The small-sized incisions reduce the chances of infection greatly and reduces the healing time of the wounds drastically helping the patient get back on his/her feet at the earliest. This also directly relates to lesser hospital stay and lower dependency on other people.
6. Magnifies the area to be operated and provides the surgeon with a 3D view
The robotic system has a vision system (or an area through which the surgeon views the operating field). This vision system is equipped with a high definition, 3D endoscope (camera) that provides images of the area to be operated upon. The surgeon gets a magnified 3 dimensional view, which is 20 to 40 times better than what is seen by the naked eye, thus helping the surgeon perform more accurate operations.
7. Reduces chance of human errors
The Da Vinci robot senses the surgeon's hand movements and translates them electronically into scaled-down micro-movements to manipulate the tiny instruments. It also detects and filters out any tremors in the surgeon's hand which makes the surgery highly accurate and precise.
8. Makes the surgeon more comfortable
In surgeries that could last well beyond a large number of hours, the surgeon is comfortably seated. This beats the fatigue that one feels while standing and bending over a patient for long hours. Although this fatigue usually does not cause any serious risk to the patient, the more comfortable the surgeon is the better his performance.
9. Cheaper in India
The cost varies between Rs.60,000 and Rs.1.5 lakh (approx $1,000-$2,700), depending on the procedure. This is much cheaper when compared to the same surgery being performed abroad where it could cost upto 10 times higher. Considering only the Indian scenario, it does work out more expensive than a conventional surgery, but the benefits far outweigh the cost.
10. Available in most large hospitals in India
The robotic surgery procedure entered the Indian healthcare system a few years back. After realizing its potential, the healthcare sector has welcomed this new and improved technique with open arms. It is now available in leading hospitals like Sir Gangaram Hospital and Medanta Medicity in Delhi, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute, Mumbai and a number of other centers.
Lastly, robotic surgery has a number of benefits, but depending on the type of procedure one might need, coupled with the complexity of the case the surgeon will decide if a particular person is fit enough to undergo the procedure. (Read: Robotic surgeries the future of complicated procedures?)
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