Dr Manish Ahuja, Senior Consultant-Urology at Fortis Hospital Mohali recently performed robot assisted Laparoscopic Pyeloplasty and robotic Ureteroureterostomy for the first time in Punjab. These surgeries are meant to open the blockage that happens in upper urinary tract.

“Traditionally, the only way to do this surgery was the open method. This entailed a big incision on patient, post-operative pain requiring immobilisation, and loss of time from work,” said Dr Ahuja while talking about the advantages of robot-assisted surgeries.

“This was in addition to a big scar the patient had to endure throughout his or her life reminding them of the surgery all the time. With time surgeons shifted to laparoscopy, the key hole surgery. The scars became small, the pain decreased and time to return to work shortened. But for reconstructive surgeries like those above, the precision was lacking. The surgeries took longer time and suturing the structures involved in complex surgeries was difficult due to the chop stick like instruments used in the laparoscopic surgeries,” he added.

The surgical robot have improved upon these deficiencies. Today, the robotically controlled instruments have made the surgeries much more precise and safe. The accuracy of suturing is as good as the open surgery and it is all done through the key hole method.

Pyeloplasty is a minimally invasive technique to treat a blockage of urine flow from the kidney to the ureter and is being done for quite a few years.

Medically, this surgery is done for a condition called ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO). It can lead to pain, stones, infection, high blood pressure and deterioration of kidney function. Ureteroureterostomy is done for condition affecting ureter called stricture, where a blockage develops in the tube connecting kidney and urinary bladder.

According to Abhijit Singh, Facility Director, Fortis Mohali, “Robotic surgery is the future of all surgical procedures. This is the latest surgical technology of the 21st Century. Fortis Hospital Mohali, as always, has been at the forefront in introducing the latest technologies in the region. We are now introducing this latest state-of-the-art technology in performing surgical procedures.