• The 32-year-old woman had a rare condition called Duplex collecting system, with two ureters coming from a single kidney

All India Institute of Medical Sciences Jodhpur, one of the premium medical institutes in India, performed a unique robotic-assisted surgery to save a 32-year-old woman who had a complicated kidney tumour. The surgery was performed by Dr. Gautam Ram Choudhary, a renowned urologist from AIIMS Jodhpur, with the help of one of the robotic-assisted surgery systems, the da Vinci Xi, by Intuitive.

The patient, who hails from a farmer’s family in Jodhpur, had a rare condition called duplex collecting system, i.e., having two ureters coming from a single kidney. She was diagnosed with a 5cm sized kidney tumour at difficult location in the kidney and her case required complex visualisation and manipulation in order to remove the tumour, without harming the rest of the kidney parts. After doing a pre-operative workup, the doctors at AIIMS Jodhpur decided to go for minimally invasive robotic-assisted surgery.

Dr. Gautam Ram Choudhary, who led the procedure, said, “In open surgery, the patient would have required long cut on body which might have caused morbidity in the form of pain and scar, also, chances of infection, and laparoscopy would have taken longer time to operate this complex tumour. So, we decided to go ahead with the da Vinci Xi system to perform a partial nephrectomy, and the procedure could be completed with only 22 minutes ischemia time, resulting in a better patient outcome. Robotic-assisted surgery helped us to remove only cancerous part and save majority of normal part of the patient’s kidney. The patient had a very good post-operative recovery, and she was discharged from the hospital within 3 days.”

This was a complicated case as there were seven renal vessels going in and coming out of the kidney, making it challenging for the surgeons to make a definitive assessment of treatment efficacy. But with robotics and surgeons’ capability, such a complicated case was very well managed.

“Partial nephrectomy for kidney cancer is routine procedure at our institution. However, rarely we face such a complex case and with the help of robotic system, we are able to perform such cases easily. Dr. Gautam added.

Commenting on her fast recovery, Mrs. Sunita Kumari (name changed), 32-year-old patient, said, “I am thankful to Dr. Gautam and the entire team at AIIMS Jodhpur, who sensitized me on the importance of robotic-assisted procedure for faster recovery. Without them, I wouldn’t have recovered so fast. I feel it as a miracle, as I have no discomfort post the surgery and was discharged from the hospital after 3 days.”

AIIMS Jodhpur has installed the latest robotic-assisted surgery technology, da Vinci Xi, to offer the best that the surgical technology can offer for better patient outcomes and aid surgeons in performing complicated surgeries. It not only allows the surgeons to perform complex surgical procedures with more precision, but also provides them with flexibility and control as compared to traditional techniques, such as open surgery and laparoscopy.