First Robotic Heart Surgery in Jaipur | Apex Hospitals Repairs Congenital Defect Without Open Surgery

In a first for Rajasthan, Apex Hospitals, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur has successfully performed a robotic cardiac surgery, repairing a congenital heart defect in a 34-year-old patient without a single large incision or division of the breastbone.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Rahul Kumar Bhukar, Consultant – Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS), Apex Hospitals. The patient was diagnosed with Ostium Secundum Atrial Septal Defect (osASD), a condition in which there is an opening in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart. Left untreated, the condition can lead to enlargement of the right side of the heart, pulmonary hypertension, irregular heart rhythms, and eventually heart failure.

Conventionally, this defect is repaired through open-heart surgery requiring a large incision down the centre of the chest and division of the sternum, followed by a recovery period of six to eight weeks. Dr. Bhukar performed the same repair robotically, through small keyhole incisions of less than one centimetre on the side of the chest, with no sternum divided and no large scar.

The surgery was performed using the SSI Mantra robotic system, India's first indigenously developed surgical robot. The system provides the surgeon with a magnified, three-dimensional view of the operating field and translates hand movements into precise instrument actions, while filtering out natural hand tremors for greater accuracy.

Speaking about the procedure, Dr. Rahul Kumar Bhukar said that robotic cardiac surgery allows the same clinical outcome as open-heart surgery, but with significantly less trauma to the body. The patient experienced markedly reduced post-operative pain, a shorter hospital stay, lower risk of infection, and is expected to return to normal activity far sooner than would have been possible with conventional surgery.

This procedure marks the beginning of a structured robotic cardiac surgery program at Apex Hospitals, Malviya Nagar, bringing a level of care that was previously available only at select centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad, directly to patients in Rajasthan.

As the program develops, a wider range of procedures including valve repairs, coronary interventions, and other congenital defect corrections will be offered through the robotic platform.

For cardiac surgical consultations, patients may contact Apex Hospitals, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur.