A leukemia patient gets pancreatic cancer too. KIMS doctor treats with robotic surgery
Hyderabad: Cancer is a deadly disease. Getting another cancer before the conclusion of the first one could be worse for anybody. A young person with such a situation came to KIMS hospital. Senior consultant surgical oncologist and robotic surgeon, KIMS hospitals, Dr. Madhu Devarasetti explains the problem and the treatment given to him.
“A 36-year-old person, who was working in the pharma industry from Hyderabad was suffering from acute promyelocytic leukemia and getting chemotherapy for the same. Meanwhile, he contracted jaundice. The diagnosis was delayed by 2-3 months. When the issue was serious, doctors suggested for biopsy, which diagnosed that he was also suffering from pancreatic cancer. Then, he came to KIMS hospitals for treatment. Keeping in view the severity, we decided to perform robotic surgery. Immediately he was taken to the theatre and the total console time for the robotic surgery was just 3 and a half hours. He was kept in ICU for one day, that too for formality’s sake, and shifted to the room. He was discharged on the 5th day of surgery. 
This can be told as one of the fastest robotic surgeries in India. The outcome of the surgery is very well. Robotic surgery in pancreatic cancers can avoid ICU stay for the patients. In near future, patients may be shifted directly to the room from the theatre instead of the ICU. Whereas in the open surgery, we have to keep the patient in ICU for at least 2 days. The post-operative biopsy report, in this case, is also very good.
Usually, we extract 12 lymph nodes. But in this case, we extracted 37 lymph nodes. That translates into the complete removal of cancer from his pancreas. If we opt for open surgery in pancreatic cancers, making sutures is a tough job. And, the prognosis also is very bad. Whereas in robotic surgery, we don’t face any such issues. KIMS Hospitals team including surgical oncologist Dr. Venkatesh, Dr. Madhavi, and nurse Ms. Swapna were part of the robotic surgery.