Singapore: In a press conference announcing a second successful experimental minimally invasive cardiovascular bypass surgery, Dr Vivek Jawali, chairman, Cardiovascular sciences, Fortis hospital, spoke about the benefits of the surgery and collaborations with doctors across the world.

Pioneers in minimal invasive surgery, Drs Jawali and Murali Manohar, with a number of surgeries under their belt, were heading the team with Dr Manohar taking the lead. The operation was on a 46-year-old woman, Mrs Seema Bai of Bidar.

The bypass surgery, which is done through the abdomen, for the first time in 1995, in the Austral Asia region and in the country, was performed by the same team.
Talking about the benefits of the surgery, Dr Jawali said, "The major advantage of a minimal invasive surgery is that there is no breakage of bone. This reduces the recovery time and the amount of blood loss dramatically. It benefits the patients cosmetically as well as there is little to no scarring."

Talking about partnerships, he said that China has a number of cases wherein the procedure was used successfully. He also mentioned that they were in conversation with a number of fellow surgeons about the surgery and the need to highlight it.

Minimal invasive surgery has been in existence for sometime, with a successful surgery done in India way back in 2005. In this procedure, the cut is made in the abdomen where the soft tissue makes it easier to stretch and insert required equipment into the chest cavity. This procedure leaves the sternum intact which is great news for people with diabeties, whooping cough and others who need substantial time to heal. The costs of the surgery will remain the same as the normal heart bypass.