Apollo Hospitals, a leading healthcare provider and pioneer in minimally invasive procedures in India, has developed an advanced technique for conducting complex cardiac surgeries with greater precision and improved patient outcomes.

The ‘Minimal Access Cardiac Surgery’ method, successfully improvised and deployed by Dr Satyaki Nambala, senior consultant and chief cardiovascular surgeon at the Apollo Hospital Bengaluru, has been performed on more than 500 heart patients with remarkable success at the hospital.

Dr K Hariprasad, chief executive officer, Apollo Hospitals, said: “Dr Nambala’s minimally invasive technique is a significant milestone in the efforts to tackle heart diseases increasing alarmingly among certain communities such as Gulf Arabs and South Asians.

“Recent studies have shown that high prevalence of diabetes and obesity have made GCC citizens particularly prone to cardiovascular diseases and the large number of patients we receive every year from countries like the UAE, Qatar and Oman validate such findings.”

According to statistics quoted at the Asian Pacific Society Cardiology Congress 2015, patients in the GCC die 12 years younger when they suffer their first cardiac episode when compared to those in Europe and the US.

While the average age of occurrence for the first cardiac episode in Europe and the US is 60 to 74, it is 40 to 50 in the Gulf, it said.

Heart disease is the top killer in the UAE and doctors point out that patients run the risk of dying within five years of a cardiac episode if the disease is not rigorously managed.

The Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) is now increasingly preferred in heart surgeries because of its unique advantages, said a statement.

Diabetics and older patients with less resistance to infections particularly rely on MICS as post-surgical infections risks and blood loss as well as hospital stay and recovery time are minimal, it said.

Known as the ‘Apollo Technique,’ the method involves a series of techniques and tools adapted in collaboration with leading industry partners to offer a less complex and more effective procedure for the benefit of the patient as well as the surgeon.

The highly advanced instrumentation and advanced techniques combined in the ‘Apollo Technique’ guarantee a high level of safety too, the statement said.

“Minimally invasive techniques help reach to heart valves and repair them through a small incision between the ribs, without having to split the breastbone (sternotomy) as in an open-heart surgery. Unlike previous techniques MICS helps to safely bypass all arterial blocks irrespective of their location, which in itself is a major advantage,” said Dr Nambala.

“Going through the ribs provides more stability and patient benefits, however, the procedure can be technically challenging as multiple surgeons involved limit access and visibility,” he said.

“In the Apollo Technique a single surgeon conducts the whole procedure with processes and equipment adapted to provide better access and improved visibility even through a smaller, well-hidden, painless and cosmetic incision under the breast. This technique is a value addition to the proven benefits of MICS and we have been performing these procedures very safely,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service