FM OCTOBER 2018 ISSUE - digital edition

straight talk
“INDIA WILL SOON MAKE THAT
BIG REVOLUTION OF CHEAPER
ROBOTIC SURGERY”
One of the major breakthroughs
in the area of gynaecological
endoscopy that the world is now
waiting for is cheaper robotic
surgery. And, it is shortly expected
from India, a country that has
already produced many innovative
endoscopic devices and is also
home to many of the the world’s
most skilled endoscopic surgeons,
says PROF. LISELOTTE METTLER,
who is loved and respected as a
great teacher by most of India’s
well-reputed endoscopists.
Prof. Mettler,an Austrian-
German surgeon specialised
in endocrinology, reproductive
medicine, gynaecological
endoscopyand gynaecological
oncology, is a professor emeritus
of the Department of Gynaecology
and Obstetrics at Kiel University,
Germany. Mettler, who conducted
one of India’s first endoscopic
surgeries at Mumbai’s Breach
Candy Hospital in 1973 and has
also authored more than 600
publications and several books
on gynaecological endoscopy,
spoke to C H UNNIKRISHNAN for
Straight Talk on the sidelines of
a three-day International Society
for Gynaecologic Endoscopy
(ISGE) conference held in Pune in
September. Edited excerpts:
You have been very regular to India as many of your
students successfully practice here and you have also
conducted several endoscopic surgeries in Indian hospitals.
What are the key differences that you see in India and the
West as far as the practice of this speciality is concerned?
There is not much of difference in both these markets as far
as the technology and the skill-set of doctors are concerned.
In the field of endoscopy in particular, the technology
and procedures are almost the same that Kiel Hospital --
Gynaecological Endoscopy Department in the University of
Kiel,introduced in the early seventies. But, Indian doctors have
really put more skills into it. I would say Indian doctors are far
more efficient as they manage complex surgeries here despite
limited infrastructure and low affordability of patients. Since
most patients in the West are insured and they don’t have to
pay out of pocket, costly equipment and advanced procedures
are easily affordable there. But, the situation in India is different
and the doctors actually use their capabilities much more
efficiently to overcome the limited resources. Many of the
devices that Indian doctors use in endoscopic surgeries today
are indigenous and very innovative, which have made these
surgeries cheaper here.
But, does it make the surgeries poor in quality as well here
as compared to the West?
Not at all. You have brilliant doctors in India, who are
capable of using the limited resources for optimum utility by
putting their skills in it. The country has technical as well as
manufacturing talent to innovate products that suit this market
in terms of cost. The other important fact that I would like to
add here is that many brilliant doctors in India are also quite
passionate about the work that they do and they put their
hundred percent in such surgical procedures. I have seen
that Indian doctors, who are well-versed with endoscopic
procedures, have really modified the techniques and modalities
to make it much easier for the doctor as well as the patient.
If that is the case, India can very well attract patients from
even Western countries isn’t it?
Of course, there have been patients coming from the West
for such surgeries. I have sent a couple of my own patients
from Germany to India for gynec-oncology surgeries to a
hospital in Pune, where one of my old students, who is a
brilliant endoscopic surgeon, operated on them. I am sure
44 / FUTURE MEDICINE / OCTOBER 2018