Kullu
13 January 2025
DIVYA AZAD
The ENT Department at Fortis Hospital Mohali has treated several patients suffering from complex ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders through the world’s most advanced 4th Generation Robot – Da Vinci Xi.
Robot-assisted surgery is considered as the gold standard treatment in complicated infections of the ear, strep throat, sinusitis, and sleep apnea.
The ENT Department headed by Dr Ashok Gupta, Director, ENT and Head & Neck Surgery, Fortis Hospital Mohali, who has conducted more than 1000 cochlear implant surgeries, has launched a one of its kind ‘Deafness-Free India’ campaign in Himachal Pradesh, and aims to take it to every nook and corner of the country.
Under the campaign, awareness sessions to address deafness and hearing loss will be organised in various cities of Himachal Pradesh.
Dr Gupta has also treated several patients with complex ENT disorders while completely curing them of the infections.
In one such case, a 6-year-old girl had been suffering from bilateral deafness (congenital hearing loss that affects both ears), Tinnitus (ringing in ears) and had discharge from her ear. The patient’s parents brought her to Fortis Mohali where Dr Gupta examined her and decided to go in for cochlear implantation surgery.
The cochlea is part of the inner ear involved in hearing and any damage to its cells can cause hearing loss.
Cochlear Implantation is the only technology in the world which helps restore hearing loss and helps in development of speech and language.
Dr Gupta performed Cochlear Implantation on the young Patient wherein an electronic device was placed inside the ear (cochlea) and a device (processor) was placed outside.
The cochlear implant stimulates the auditory nerve and helps the Patient understand sound and speech. She was discharged two days after the surgery and is able to hear better and comprehend sound.
In another case, Patient Sunny Goel, aged 28, presented to Fortis Hospital Mohali with breathing problems and extreme lethargy.
Dr Gupta examined the patient and medical investigations revealed that he was suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OBS) – a sleep disorder in which breathing stops involuntarily for brief periods of time during sleep and starts again. The condition is caused when muscles in the upper throat narrow and block the airway. This causes a patient to gasp for breath and disrupts the sleep cycle.
The team of doctors led by Dr Gupta and including Dr Anuragini Gupta, Associate Consultant; and Dr Neha Sharma from the ENT Department, conducted Transoral robot-assisted Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UVPP) – a surgery to open the upper airways by taking out extra tissue in the throat. Dr Gupta reconstructed the Patient’s airway wherein the windpipe was widened to make breathing easier.
The Patient was discharged two days after the surgery and is doing completely fine.
Discussing the cases, Dr Gupta, said, “Cochlear Implantation is a boon for people who have hearing difficulty as the implant improves hearing.
Further, sleep apnea can increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Robot-aided Surgery is the latest form of minimal invasive surgery and provides a 3D view of the operative field via a special camera inserted into the body of the patient. Parts of the body which are difficult to reach with the human hand can be accessed through robot-assisted arms that can rotate 360 degrees and provide a wide range of movement.
