16-year-old girl undergoes robot-assisted heart surgery at Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital

The Hindu

25-04-2025

It was a few months before her Class 12 Board Examination that 16-year-old Aarthi (name changed) was diagnosed with atrial septal defect (ASD), after she complained of dizziness and fatigue.
Days after the exam ended, the girl underwent robot-assisted ASD closure surgery at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital (TNGMSSH), Omandurar Estate, and is now back on her feet, eagerly looking forward to her exam results.
TNGMSSH surgeons said this was the first time a robot-assisted surgery for ASD closure had been done in the government sector in India. 'Till now, we have been performing beating heart surgeries robotically,' Meenakshi Sundaram, Head, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, TNGMSSH, said.
Aarthi was raised by a single mother, who works at a roadside pushcart eatery. She was diagnosed with ASD at a private hospital. 'There, they said she should undergo the surgery at the earliest and that it will cost more than ₹3.5 lakh,' her mother, who gets a daily wage of ₹400, said.
They approached TNGMSSH in January, where doctors examined Aarthi and told her to come after board exam ended. She wanted her surgery done during the holidays and was keen on returning to normal activity at the earliest, so as not affect her studies.
Doctors said this was a congenital heart defect, and the symptoms could show up later in life as was the case with Aarthi. With TNGMSSH having a robotic surgery centre, doctors performed a robot-assisted ASD closure surgery on her on April 3. She was fit for discharge on the fourth day after the operation, Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram said.
Robot-assisted surgery has its benefits, he said, adding that the surgery was done through a 5-cm incision on the chest. It provides faster recovery, shorter hospital stay, and patients do not have scars.
In private hospitals, open surgery for ASD closure would have cost around ₹5 lakh, while robot-assisted surgery would cost ₹15 lakh to ₹20 lakh, he said, adding: 'Here, the procedure was covered under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.'
Around 100 patients with cancer and over 60 patients with cardiac ailments have benefitted from robotic surgery at TNGMSSH so far, a press release said. Apart from Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram, the surgical team comprised Abinayavalavan and Ezhilan from the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Kumar, Head, Department of Anaesthesiology, and Deepthi and Kalaivani from the department.