Young man undergoes robot-assisted surgery to remove large tumour from side of throat in Delhi

A 21-year-old man, who had difficulty in swallowing and breathing, has received a new lease of life after undergoing a robot-assisted surgery to remove a very large tumour from the side of his throat at a leading hospital here, doctors said on Monday.

What was the need for robot-assisted surgery?

The patient was diagnosed with a large parapharyngeal space tumour that required a surgical removal. These tumours are found in deep tissues of the neck, lymph nodes, and parts of the salivary gland, they said.

He was provided with an option of either a conventional surgery or a trans-oral robot-assisted surgery which would provide a more distinct view of the tumour, use more precise movement and prevent excessive blood loss and nerve damage, without any external cuts, Apollo hospital said in a statement.

The surgery was "successful", the hospital authorities claimed.

How did surgery happen?

"The patient was admitted after experiencing difficulty in swallowing and breathing and muffled speech. He was put under the care of Dr Kalpana Nagpal, senior consultant and robotic surgeon and Dr Anil Sharma, senior consultant," it said.

He was "provided awake-anaesthesia using a fibre optic laryngoscope as given conventional general anaesthesia was nearly impossible," Nagpal said.

Additionally, it was difficult to deliver such a large tumour without any external cuts. The patient underwent surgery recently, and it was performed under 3D vision, with "ten times the magnification, using the new Xi Da Vinci," Nagpal said.

The tumour was removed in two parts. This was managed without a tracheostomy and a feeding tube, doctors claimed.

Both the anaesthesia and trans-oral removal of the tumour was a challenge, and the patient was discharged on November 21 in a "stable condition, the statement said.

Published on: Monday, December 19, 2022, 09:50 PM IST