Chandigarh doctors perform robotic surgery on infant, make record

A team of pediatric surgeons from PGIMER, Chandigarh claimed to have successfully treated a two-day-old newborn with robotic surgery. This is the first time in Asia that such a young baby has been operated on using the robotic facility, a statement issued by Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research claimed here on Tuesday.

The baby was born recently with an absent food pipe and was unable to take his feeds. This condition is known as oesophageal atresia in scientific terms. "He was two days old and weighed only 2,500 grams at the time of birth. The baby was born at a multi-speciality hospital in sector-16, Chandigarh. Conventionally, these babies are operated by opening their chest to repair the food pipe within the first two-three days after birth.

"This is a very advanced surgery in which the oesophageal reconstruction is done so early in life," the statement said. The department of pediatric surgery here has been operating on babies since the early 1980s and is the largest referral centre for newborn surgical conditions in India, it said.

More than 250 such cases are operated on annually at PGIMER Chandigarh, which includes procedures like open and laparoscopic surgeries. However, the surgical team used robotic surgery to repair this difficult condition for the first time. The team was led by Dr Ravi Kanojia and anaesthetist Professor Neerja Bhardwaj. After the surgery, the baby was looked after by the neonatology team. "The baby has fully recovered and is taking feeds and has gone home," it said.

The infant's father is a security guard and PGIMER provided free treatment to the baby.