Robot flexes muscles at Ganga Ram Hospital

Pallavi Mittal, 22, from Meerut suffered muscle weakness and fatigue due to a neuro-muscular disorder.

She did not want an open surgery which leaves a big scar on body. She became the first person to be treated through robotic surgery in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and is attending her classes and exams.

Myasthenia Gravis is an autoimmune disorder in which a patient faces fluctuating muscle weakness leading to fatigue during periods of activity. The tissue improves after periods of rest.

The disorder has been traditionally treated by open surgery which leaves a permanent scar from neck to chest. “It is cosmetically not appealing, especially for young girls who have a whole life left to lead,” said Dr Arvind Kumar, head, Institute of Robotic Surgery, Sir Ganga Ram hospital (SGRH). He performed the robotic surgery on Pallavi, instead of the open surgery.

Pallavi was wary of an open surgery for a number of reasons.
“Due to open surgery, I would have had to spend many months without studying, compromising my studies. The scar would have also looked bad. I would have preferred to be on medication than going for surgery,” she said.

In robotic surgery, three incisions of 8 mm each are made. Thus there are three small scars which are positioned in a fashion that others cannot see it. In open surgery, one has to spend a long time to recover, while after robotic surgery, a patient takes only few hours to recover.

“I was doing a regular course in Master of Business Administration from an institute. After getting the disease last year, I could not continue and had to shift to correspondence course,” said Pallavi.

The disease is still not common and many general physicians are not able to diagnose it properly. The  medicines they prescribe may provide temporary relief, but do not cure a patient. In Mittal’s case too, the first few months were wasted before her proper medical condition could be detected.

Her eyes were affected and there was swelling since May, 2011. “It was only in August that doctors of a private hospital diagnosed Myasthenia Gravis and asked me to go for surgery,” she said.

Faith in government hospitals brought Pallavi to AIIMS (All-India Institute of Medical Sciences) where robotic surgery is available but the queue was very long. Mittal waited for three months and moved to SGRH for surgery.

The cost is Rs 65,000 more than other forms of surgery. Experts say once the patent of Intuitive Surgical, the company which has commercial rights at the moment, expires, the cost would come down.