New Delhi: In a landmark that doctors said called for celebration, AIIMS Delhi has completed 1,000 robotic surgeries since the programme began in the hospital. The milestone follows installation of the "da Vinci robotic surgical system", with the first such procedure led by Dr Hemanga K Bhattacharjee in Nov 2024 after years of preparation by the surgical team.

Surgeons at the top hospital are now performing robot-assisted surgeries free of additional cost. This, doctors said, makes AIIMS one of the fastest-growing robotic surgery centres in the public sector and the programme now covers a wide range of complex procedures including cancer operations, pelvic surgeries and organ transplants. For patients, the shift represents a technological leap in how surgery is performed.

“Studies have consistently shown that the technological aspects of robotic surgery result in less pain and better precision,” Dr Bhattacharjee told TOI. “The robot allows the surgeon to achieve outcomes that are often more precise than conventional techniques.”

Robotic surgery belongs to a broader category of minimally invasive procedures that emerged over the past three decades. Traditional open surgery involves large incisions to access organs, often leading to longer recovery times and greater pain. Laparoscopic surgery—which uses small incisions and instruments guided by cameras—revolutionised the field in the 1990s. Robotic surgery takes this approach a step further.

The surgeon operates from a console that provides a highly magnified, three-dimensional view of the patient’s anatomy. Instruments attached to robotic arms mimic the surgeon’s hand movements but with greater flexibility and steadiness, eliminating tremors and allowing access to difficult areas deep inside the body.

For certain types of procedures, particularly pelvic surgeries, the advantages can be significant.

Source: ET Healthworld - March 10,2026