The robotic surgery unit at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hyderabad, has successfully completed 300 robotic-assisted surgeries (RAS) within a year of installing the Da Vinci Xi surgical robot. These surgeries span a range of complex procedures across the urology, gastrointestinal surgery, and surgical oncology departments. With this achievement, NIMS has become one of the fastest government hospitals in India to reach this milestone, say doctors.
The equipment costing ₹ 35 crore was inaugurated by former Health Minister T Harish Rao in July last year.
“Our goal is to provide the best course of treatment to everyone who visits our hospital. With cutting-edge technology being available in India, it is imperative to make the benefits of those available to all sections of the patient community,” said Dr. Bheerappa Nagari, Director of NIMS Hyderabad.
“This has also resulted in reduced waiting periods for surgeries, from months to a few days. The departments are now getting patients who prefer to undergo robotic-assisted surgery as the word-of-mouth of operated patients has helped us spread awareness about the benefits of RAS,” Dr Bheerappa added.
Dr. Rahul Devraj, Professor and Head, Department of Urology and Coordinator for Robotic Surgery, NIMS said, “In terms of technical feasibility, safety, and long-term oncological and other clinical outcomes, we found this approach as a viable alternative to traditional techniques. We have also observed that the patients who have undergone robotic-assisted surgeries have minimum pain, and this has reduced their post-operative follow-up.”
