Bypass surgeries go smaller, literally

MATTERS OF THE HEART: A multiple bypass surgery with an 3 inch incision was performed in the Capital.

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New Delhi: Doctors in the Capital have performed a multiple bypass surgery with an incision less than three inches for the first time in India. The bypass surgery was performed without cutting a single bone.

Forty-year-old Suman Singhal is recovering from a multiple bypass surgery much faster than she would have, if it weren't for the new groundbreaking surgery which was performed on her.

"I'm going back home in just four days after the surgery," said Suman.

This has been made possible thanks to a new technique in bypass surgery. It's been performed in India for the first time by doctors in the Capital. A multiple bypass surgery with an incision less than three inches.

"We could not perform arterial grafts on more than one artery earlier with the minimally invasive techniques. But now we can with the new technology," explained senior cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Naresh Trehan.

The procedure is meant for patients with blocks in multiple arteries. And the new technique gives the surgeon three-dimensional access to the heart, without needing to cut open the whole breast bone. Also the access to the arteries in the back of the heart, which wasn't possible earlier.

Patients benefit from this as there is less trauma because of the smaller incision. And since there is no need for a big incision, that means no scar on the chest.

Patients may not even require blood transfusions, since minimally invasive surgeries don't require them. Also, patients need to spend less time in hospital, for recovery -- that is some three to four days.

Doctors also say that this technique would give bypass surgeries an advantage over the commonly-used Angioplasty -- which is another technique of mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed artery -- as patients undergoing by-pass surgery probably don't need to be operated on again.

However, the big question is the cost factor -- this new tech will cost somewhere e around Rs 1.5-2 lakh. And that is comparable to regular bypass surgeries in big private hospitals.

"It's going to bring down the cost by at least 20 per cent to 25 per cent," said Dr Trehan. This is a good news for 10 crore heart disease patients in India.