In the largest such initiative so far, a group of 70 young surgeons specialising in oncology at the premier medical science institute in New Delhi are learning the basics of robot-assisted surgeries in a new two-month course.
The surgeons will learn from international faculty and will practice on a simulator that is like a virtual robot, said S V S Deo, head of surgical oncology department at Dr BRA Institute-Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS, who is spearheading this programme.
It’s been 19 years since the first robot-assisted surgery took place in India, but the country has been slow to adopt the technology. There are only 73 robotic installations in the country, as opposed to several thousand in the US.
Robot-assisted surgeries have become more important in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic as surgeons need not be in close contact with the patient and his bodily fluids, Deo said.
Moreover, using the Da Vinci, surgeons can perform minimal incisions, and in a range of motion much beyond human hands. This would result in lesser complications, better quality of surgery and faster recovery, Deo said. This is crucial as it results in a shorter hospital stay, easing the burden on public health infrastructure.
At present, only about 500 surgeons in India know how to work with these robots. Max Healthcare, which has a robot each at two of its hospitals, has performed an average of 75-80 robotic surgeries every month, said a spokesperson. A spokesperson for Apollo Hospitals said that they have six Da Vinci robots, and plan to get three more. For these, they have 33 trained surgeons, which they plan to increase to 60. Apart from that, they also have robotic units for orthopaedic and spinal surgeries.
Following the success of its pilot programme at AIIMS, the Indian unit of Intuitive Surgicals plans to partner with multiple teaching institutions across the country and teach robotics to 500 more surgeons over the next year and a half, a top official said.
“The Robotic Onboarding Program and Education (ROPE) aims to support evolution of the country’s surgical healthcare landscape towards producing consistently better clinical outcomes,” said Mandeep Singh Kumar, general manager at Intuitive India.
The high cost of a robotic installation – the latest one at AIIMS costed close to $2 million – was one of the reasons why this technology has been out of reach for most in the country.
However, this might change as the Union budget for FY22 has allocated a greater sum for tertiary care, said Deo of AIIMS. This means that institutes like AIIMS could procure more than one robot.
Industry experts said robot-assisted surgeries not being covered by insurance companies are also one of the major reasons for the slow growth of robot-assisted surgeries in India.