Cost of Robotic Surgery in India Compared with Laparoscopic Surgery

With God's grace, none of my patients have ended up in the ICU or anything like that — they've all recovered beautifully. I've done more than 400 to 500 robotic surgeries so far, and I cannot recall any complications in terms of injury to the bladder, bowel, or ureter — essentially a 100% success rate at the post-operative stage.

It depends what's meant by 'failure rate' — conversion to open surgery, complications, or the surgery not being viable at all. On not being viable: if you're an expert in robotic surgery, you should be able to make that decision pre-operatively through proper planning — getting an MRI or CT done if the ultrasound report isn't satisfactory. On complications: the risk of injury is less than 1% with robotic surgery — for bowel and vessel injury specifically the risk is less than 0.5%, and bladder injury is similarly low, compared with 1 to 2% with laparoscopic surgery.

Artemis has been very proactive with all sorts of expansion, and is very much into the international world — we're there to support it. With the new digital world, things like today's Zoom session can happen, and I'll be very happy to be part of any travel needed, taking time out every couple of months to be with the doctors and patients there. I'm a very proactive person when it comes to teaching and training, because the skills we've acquired are good to spread around so more people can gain the expertise.

Robotic surgery is a little more expensive than laparoscopic surgery — depending on the type of surgery, somewhere around $1,000 to $1,200 extra than any conventional laparoscopic surgery.

It depends on the age of the patient and her fertility desire. If it's a perimenopausal woman around 48 who has completed her family and has multiple fibroids, it's her choice whether she wants just the fibroids removed or the uterus removed too — sometimes women have very tiny peanut-sized fibroids we cannot take out at the time, and those can recur and regrow. So in many such women it's often better to think about getting the uterus removed rather than saving it. These are the kinds of discussions I'd have with the patient, taking them through the pros and cons of either, and then they can make a call.

The additional cost of robotic surgery must be weighed against its benefits, including shorter hospital stays, less blood loss, lower complication rates and faster recovery, advantages that can offset the higher upfront cost for complex cases such as multiple fibroids or severe endometriosis.

No. Very large fibroid masses may not be suitable for robotic or laparoscopic surgery at all and are better managed with open surgery regardless of cost considerations.

Doctors referring patients for robotic surgery in India are encouraged to discuss both cost and clinical suitability together, weighing available resources and cost against the specific needs of the patient before deciding on the best surgical approach.