BANGKOK — Undergoing a major surgery is something that Mr Chuchart Pinjai, a 63-year-old retired policeman from Phayao province, does not want to go through again.

He had heart surgery in 2015 at the Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital and it took him months to recover and get back to his normal routine.

Earlier this year, however, he went back to the hospital because of stomach pain. It turned out that he had appendicitis and needed immediate surgery to remove his appendix.

During the operation, doctors found that Mr Chuchart also suffers from aortic aneurysm, a bulge in the body’s main artery which can be life threatening if it burst.

“The doctor explained that if a blood vessel burst in my stomach, I could die from it. So he asked me to come back for more surgery once my body had fully recovered from appendicitis,” Mr Chuchart recounted.

“I didn’t really want to do it as going through surgery is painful for me.”

The doctor told Mr Chuchart that the surgery was critical and the only way to treat his condition but this time, there is a new way to make such complicated surgery less painful and needs less recovery time.

Enter robotic technology.

Mr Chuchart is one of 10 patients to undergo surgery in the new Hybrid Operating Room (OR) that Chiang Mai University installed at its hospital, making it the first medical institution in the region to utilise such technology.

Dr Bannakij Lojanapiwat, dean of the faculty of medicine at the university, decided to invest in the Hybrid OR for the university to use.

A Hybrid OR is a surgical theatre equipped with an advanced 2D and 3D medical imaging system that allows surgeons to conduct complex surgeries that would otherwise be unsafe or more difficult.

It was first developed over 20 years ago and has since become widely used in cardiac, vascular, and thoracic surgery. Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital is the first hospital in South-east Asia to have the system.

The Hybrid OR allows for more minimally invasive procedures. These are less harmful to patients, especially the elderly who are too fragile for invasive open surgery.

It also reduces infection risks, cuts surgery time and allows patients to be released from hospital earlier.

When a nurse told Mr Chuchart about the Hybrid OR, he did not understand how it would benefit him. He thought his experience would be similar to his previous heart surgery — painful and it took him months to recover.

As Mr Chuchart had aortic aneurysm, the traditional way to handle it was via open surgery.

However using the Hybrid OR allows doctors to see real-time images during the procedure — giving medical staff more information about a patient’s anatomy.

It also can reduce complication rates.

“The less we move patients from the operation table, the safer it is for them. We find it much safer and easier for many complicated procedures such as brain, spinal and heart surgery when using the Hybrid OR,” said Dr Bannakij.

After his surgery, Mr Chuchart was sent to a recovery room where he spent only a few days at the hospital. He was able to walk when he was discharged, a stark contrast to his first surgery where the recovery time took ages.

“I didn’t need a wheelchair to push me around after the surgery. I walked right to my daughter’s car when she came to pick me up and I started working around my home as if nothing had happened. Unlike my previous heart surgery, I feel no pain at all after this surgery,” Mr Chuchart said.

Dr Surin Woragidpoonpol, head of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery at the department of surgery in Chiang Mai University’s faculty of medicine, said recovery time was significantly reduced withh the Hybrid OR.

Citing an example, he said patients usually take seven to 10 days to recover after brain and heart surgeries.

But with the Hybrid OR, patients only require six to eight hours in the recovery room before transferring to their rooms where they stay only for a couple of days before being discharged.

“The operation time is also reduced by 50 per cent,” he said. BANGKOK POST