City’s first 3D bariatric surgery performed on Canadian

“Generally,we need more assistants and the telescope needs to go closer to the tissues,” said Shah,who is also the director of the centre.

The centre has an experienced team of surgeons,bariatric physicians,bariatric nutritionists and counsellers with experience of treating over 20,000 patients till date in various cities. It has recently started a laparoscopy and bariatric facility with the state-of-the- art and ultramodern equipment.

Laparoscopy is done with the help of an elongated telescope that is used as a camera through a 1 cm incision. The telescope is connected to a TV screen where a magnified image of inside organs can be viewed. Two other 5 mm incisions are made through which long instruments are inserted to perform the surgery. The limitation of TV screen is that it gives images of the organ in 2 dimensions and the perception of depth is left to the experience and skill of the surgeon.

However,in three-dimensional laparoscopy,the third dimension of depth is perceived. It improves the perception and reduces the operating time. Even no scar surgeries (surgeries through single negligible scar) through the navel become easy with this system. One such case was performed on Vijay singh Jadhav,standing committee member of Pune Zilla Parishad,who was suffering from obstructive sleep apnea,high blood pressure,severe knee joint discomfort,breathlessness on slight exertion and other ailments.

He underwent a sleeve gastrectomy surgery by using three-dimensional laparoscpic bariatric surgery. Dr Jayashree Todkar,another bariatric surgeon at Ruby Hall Clinic,said,“The 3D laparoscopy is here to stay. It will add to precision during surgical operation. We did the first single incision trans-umbilical laparoscopic surgery (NO SCAR) in India in 2008 and it has become a routine affair for experts today. I believe 3D technique with addition of more user-friendly gadgets will make complex surgeries minimally invasive and will leave less number of scars.”

Shah said a 21-year-old girl who weighed 140 kg wished to have a surgery without a visible scar. “She underwent a no scar laparoscopic bariatric surgery at Laparo-Obeso Centre and was discharged within a day after the operation. While the 3D laparoscopy unit costs Rs 50 lakh,the surgeries range between Rs 3 and 5 lakh,” he added.