NEW DELHI: A city hospital has claimed to have performed the first ever attempted technique of carrying out successful scarless surgery of the head and neck region. The BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital has conducted a scarless removal of a face tumour from a 46-year old patient, robotically. Sujinder Singh, the patient from Sonipat, consulted the hospital with carcinoma of right cheek and tongue (buccal mucosa), one of the most common kinds of oral cavity cancer. According to him, he is now able to eat properly and is not facing any problem with his face anymore.
The doctors planned a scarless robotic surgery after thoroughly evaluating the placement of his cancer. The surgery ensured that no cuts were externally made on the face and neck of the patient. One of the biggest concerns of most oral cancer patients is the post-surgery aesthetic appearance and disfigurement of their face. It may also leave patients compromised with their quality of life such as change in speech, drooling of saliva or difficulty in swallowing.Generally, oral cancer surgeries leave a massive scarring on the survivor’s face and neck area, at times requiring elaborate and multiple plastic-reconstructive surgeries.
The surgery was performed in December last year by Dr Surender Kumar Dabas, HOD of surgical oncology and robotic surgery. He approached the oral cavity by making four small holes, measuring 8 mm each under the patient’s collar bone. His cancer presented as an ulcer on the right lower cheeks and tongue.According to Dr Dabas, this kind of scarless surgery is beneficial for oral cancers that are of the cheeks, tongue, tonsillar cancers and alveolar cancers. “We began scarless surgeries in head and neck cancers, so it means that we are not leaving any scars on patients who suffer from oral cancer,” said Dr Dabas.
“Earlier, we used to give big incisions in the face and neck area. But now with robotic technology, any scar in the neck can be avoided. We are doing keyhole surgeries where we put small pores in the chest and do the neck part and then an intra oral incision of the cancerous part. After that we put a flap,” Dr Dabas said.
However, all procedures cannot be done robotically, one needs to consult the doctor to understand which patient can be fit for this kind of scarless robotic surgery, he said.