India’s first keyhole multiple bypass surgery performed at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals New Delhi

India’s first keyhole multiple bypass surgery on Suman Singhal, aged 53 years, was conducted by Dr Naresh Trehan at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi last week. It took him less than four hours to perform the scarless surgery, without cutting any bone of the patient. This technique uses a combination of small holes in the chest and a small incision, made indirectly over the coronary artery to be bypassed. It is often performed using robotics and video-imaging, which help the surgeon operate in a small area. It is the first of its kind surgery. It will benefit patients, especially women. The scar is not seen as it is below the breast. In conventional bypass, the sternum (chest or breastbone) is cut open, which takes at least eight weeks to heal. This is the first time in India multiple grafts have been put, especially at the back of the heart, through minimally invasive coronary surgery.