NEW DELHI, December 25: A laparoscope that cost Bara Hindu Rao Hospital Rs 16 lakh four years ago is now gathering cobwebs. Four surgeons underwent special training in Hyderabad - which cost the hospital thousands of rupees - to use the instrument. The laparascope remained unused after their return. The instrument helps surgeries because it requires a smaller incision and consequently the blood loss is less as is the length of the postsurgical stay in hospital. Dr A.K. Chaturvedi who heads one of the three surgical teams in the hospital admitted that the laparoscope was being sparingly used. The reason he said was the sophistication and novelty of the machine. He said that doctors, though trained, would take time to be more comfortable with the instrument.Besides, he said its usefulness was rather cosmetic and its benefit was that patients instead of getting discharged on the third day after operation would be discharged on the second day. Besides, the surgeon said, only one of the two operation theatres has been functioning since almost one year and there was very little time to spare for the time-consuming laparoscopic surgeries.Dr Sunil Chumbal, laparoscopic surgeon at AIIMS said that the use of a laparoscopic surgery was not just cosmetic. It causes minimal pain and the recovery rate was fast. He said that it was one of the most recent advances in surgery in a decade and was used mostly in gall bladder surgeries. Chumbal recalled that he had operated on a patient last Thursday, who was sitting up and having breakfast on Friday and was discharged after a few more hours. Laproscopic surgeries are more expensive than regular ones and can be a good source of money for a cash-strapped hospital as it charges patients in its private nursing home for investigation and operation. When asked, Bara Hindu Rao Medical Superintendent Ashok Virmani said that five or six extra days of recuperation don't make much of a difference.
