Kolkata: Robotic cardiac surgery is scaling up across Kolkata, with leading hospitals now offering minimally invasive procedures that promise greater precision and faster recovery for patients.Last week, BM Birla Heart Hospital launched its cardiac robotic surgery facilities. The hospital has already conducted several such surgeries over the past few months and is now ready to offer it on a wider scale. It joins at least five other hospitals that offer robotic cardiac procedures in the city.Unlike conventional open-heart surgery, robotic-assisted cardiac procedures are performed through small incisions using surgeon-controlled robotic instruments and high-definition 3D visualisation. The technology is being adopted worldwide because it can reduce surgical trauma, minimise blood loss, lower post-operative pain and decrease the risk of wound-related complications in selected cases. Soumya Guha, robotic cardiac surgeon at BM Birla Heart Hospital, said, “The visualisation and instrument control that robotic assistance provides changes what is technically achievable, particularly in cases where the operative anatomy is complex and the space available is limited. Across the cases completed so far, the outcomes have been consistent with what the technology is designed to deliver, and the patient recovery experience has been meaningfully different from what open surgery produces.“Several Kolkata institutions now run dedicated programmes. Apollo Multispecialty Hospitals houses the Apollo Institute of Robotic Surgery, performing minimally invasive coronary artery bypass through incisions as small as 4cm. BM Birla Heart Hospital operates a dedicated robotic surgery department focusing on sutureless and minimal-incision heart surgeries. Fortis Hospital, Anandapur, uses advanced infrastructure for complex robotic-assisted cardiac cases. Manipal Hospitals in Mukundapur, Salt Lake and Dhakuria have added robotic and minimally invasive cardiac wings. Narayana Health’s RN Tagore Hospital reports high success rates in specialised robotic mitral valve repairs.Robotic cardiac surgeries are more precise for procedures like open-heart surgery, valve replacement and even angioplasty, said Charnock Hospital chief interventional cardiologist Tapobrata De. “It eliminates errors and is reliable. Use of robotic arms and minimal incisions reduce blood loss and recovery time. They also increase the success rate since. It is now being used in a restricted way even for procedures like angioplasty in some hospitals of south India. In 5-10 years, a majority of cardiac surgeries will turn robotic,” said De.Manoj Daga, director of cardiac surgery at BM Birla Heart Hospital, said, “Eastern India carries a significant burden of cardiac disease, and the patients in this region have had to travel considerable distances for procedures that require advanced surgical infrastructure. The addition of robotic cardiac surgery to our programme means that level of care is now available here.”The approximate cost of robotic cardiac surgery in Kolkata typically ranges from Rs 3,50,000 to Rs 8,00,000. The use of advanced robotic surgical systems, such as the Da Vinci system, and high-precision disposable instruments drives the base cost higher than conventional surgery, which usually ranges from Rs 2,75,000 to Rs 4,25,000 in the region.The recovery period for robotic cardiac surgery is significantly shorter than an open-heart procedure, two to four weeks as opposed to six to 12 weeks for traditional open-heart surgery. The primary reason for this faster healing is the avoidance of a sternotomy (splitting the breastbone).
