Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals announced the introduction of MICS CABG on Wednesday for patients suffering from cardio-vascular diseases. The new procedure is expected to bring about a revolution in the way cardiac patients are currently treated.

The surgery on Singhal, hailing from Bulandshahr in UP and suffering multiple artery blockages, was performed by Dr Naresh Trehan, senior cardiac surgeon and Dr Yatin Mehta, Senior Consultant Anaesthetist, of Apollo.

The new technique brings down the cost of a bypass surgery by almost Rs 50,000. As against the conventional method in which the breastbone is cut to reach the heart, this technique requires only a three-inch cut. In this procedure, a coronary bypass is performed through a smaller incision in the chest, often with the use of robotics and video-imaging that helps the surgeon operate in a small area.

A patient operated in this method requires shorter recovery time and fewer blood transfusions - both factors reducing the cost of the surgery.

In a normal bypass surgery, an incision is made in the chest as the heart continues to beat. A stabilisation system lifts and holds the heart and then stabilises a portion of the heart’s surface where the bypass graft is to be sutured in place, while the heart continues to beat.