Doctors at a hospital in Delhi have successfully performed a rare life-saving procedure on a 66-year-old man by carrying out a heart bypass surgery and a robot-assisted lung cancer operation in a single session, treating two life-threatening conditions without compromising either.
The patient, who was being examined for lung cancer, complained of persistent breathlessness during investigations. Further examination revealed severe blockages in his coronary arteries in addition to cancer in the upper lobe of his left lung.
Doctors at the HCMCT Manipal Hospital, Dwarka said managing both conditions required careful planning as the heart and lungs are closely interconnected within the chest cavity and depend on each other for routine functioning.
This meant that surgery on one could have influenced the function and recovery of the other.
Following multidisciplinary discussions involving specialists from cardiac sciences and cancer care, the medical team opted for a simultaneous hybrid approach. The two procedures were performed one after the other with a gap of less than an hour.
Doctors first performed a heart bypass surgery to address the blocked arteries and then carried out a lung cancer surgery using the da Vinci surgical system to remove the cancer-affected part of the lung.
The robot-assisted approach provided surgeons with enhanced 3D visualisation and precision during the lung cancer procedure, helping reduce the overall surgical burden on a patient with significant cardiac risk, a statement said.
In this case, angioplasty was ruled out due to the need for prolonged blood-thinning medication, which could have delayed cancer treatment.
Although, treating two major conditions simultaneously was challenging, but with careful post-operative care and rehabilitation, the patient made a good recovery and was discharged in a stable condition, the statement said.
Dr Yugal Kishore Mishra, Chairman, Manipal Institute of Cardiac Sciences, HCMCT Manipal Hospital Dwarka, said, “What made this case particularly challenging was that both conditions required urgent intervention.
The coronary artery disease significantly increased the risk of cancer surgery, while delaying cancer treatment was not an ideal option either.”
“After careful evaluation, our teams decided on a simultaneous approach that would allow us to address both problems safely in a single sitting.” Such cases demand meticulous planning, seamless coordination, and the confidence to take decisions that place the patient”s overall well-being at the centre of care,” Dr Mishra said.
Dr Surender Kumar Dabas, Chairman, Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Centre and Onco Robotic Surgeries, Northwest Cluster said that a cancer diagnosis is always overwhelming on its own, and the challenge becomes even greater when another serious condition requires urgent treatment.
“Since the patient was to undergo major cardiac surgery, we wanted the minimize the surgical trauma in the subsequent procedure while ensuring complete cancer removal.
Da Vinci surgical system enabled us to operate with exceptional precision through a minimally invasive approach, helping reduce recovery time, minimise complications, and support a faster return to normal life,” he said.
Dr Vikas Thakran, Consultant, Cardiology, HCMCT Manipal Hospital Dwarka, said, “The challenge was determining the safest sequence and timing of treatment. Every option carried its own risks and our objective was to ensure that neither condition was compromised while treating the other.
In this case, this simultaneous approach allowed us to address both life-threatening conditions during a single session while ensuring patient safety remained our foremost priority.”
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Doctors in Delhi carry out rare heart bypass and lung cancer procedure
