First robotic surgery for cervical cancer in Mumbai

Diagnosis of cervical cancer usually requires a hysterectomy, but Dr Kulkarni, based in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai, performed first-of-its-kind fertility preservation surgery, Radical Trachelectomy (RT), in which a cancerous tumour was removed by robotic instruments. Though it is a complex procedure, he said that the flexibility of the instruments means that deep-seated tumour mass can be removed easily, making it accurate and safe. Only 800-900 RTs have been performed throughout the world, and this was the first to use robotic instruments, he added.

Nagpur:

Ganga underwent a robotic surgery, the first such surgery in Mumbai and in state, to remove a tumour of cervix. The surgical procedure called RT or Radical Trachelectomy (Fertility preservation surgery), could have been done at Nagpur but not using robotic technology. However, not all patients of cervical

are suitable for RT.

Removal of uterus or hysterectomy is the most accepted line of treatment but since she was too young and didn’t have children, Dr Yogesh Kulkarni at the Kokilaben

Hospital in Mumbai performed the RT.

“It was our decision to go to Mumbai. The operation could have also been done at Tata Memorial Hospital but we would have to wait. So we preferred to go to Dr Kulkarni. I am very happy that my wife will be able to bear a child after a year or so,” said Moher Lahire, Ganga’s husband.

Ganga’s brother Sandeep Nagpure, a CA and her sister-in-law, a gynaecologist, too told TOI that though the procedure did cost them about Rs5lakh, it was worth the risk as it saved the patient’s uterus. “My sister had had 3-4 abortions in early pregnancy which made us bring her to Nagpur for treatment. I am thankful to Dr Ketkar for detecting the cancer,” said Nagpure.

is a complex surgery and not recommended for every patient with cervical cancer. But robotic instrument make it very easy, accurate and safe. The robotic instruments are so flexible that they can easily remove deep-seated tumour mass and suture the area of surgery. It is the first robotic surgery in RT,” he said. Dr Kulkarni said that he had done an RT about four years ago on a four-year-old girl with cervical cancer using con

“The operation has raised my hopes of becoming a mother. I am grateful to the doctor who removed the cervical cancer through robotic surgery and preserved my uterus. It has given me a new lease of life,” said an emotional Ganga Lahire.Ganga will however wait for over one to one-and-half years before she can plan a pregnancy as per the doctor’s directives. She told TOI that though she belongs to Balaghat area in Madhya Pradesh and was taking treatment at Nagpur with Dr Mangala Ketkar, but when she referred her to Dr Anand Pathak for her cancer he in turn sent her to Mumbai.Dr Kulkarni, a gyanec-oncosurgeon said that world over only about 800-900 RT procedures must have been performed so far. Generally, removing the uterus is the ideal way of ensuring that the cancerous tissue is not left in body and it does not spread further.“Itventional surgical method.