The Hindu : New equipment at Royapettah Hospital reduces recovery period

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 06, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

New equipment at Royapettah Hospital reduces recovery period

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB.5. The Government Royapettah Hospital (GRH), which currently receives about 3,500 outpatients a day and has more than 800 in-patients at any given time, is all set to streamline its waiting list of patients. It has received equipment — one laparoscope and one arthroscope — which will make surgeries simpler and shorten recovery periods. The hospital inaugurated the machines and a new dialysis machine today.

The laparoscope and the arthroscope have been on a trial run for the past month, say doctors. "There is a waiting list for surgery in my department and patients have to wait for more than three weeks to be admitted," says S. M. Chandramohan, Gastrointestinal Surgeon at the GRH. The department treats an average of 70 patients a week, besides treating 35 in-patients.

The laparoscope, which costs Rs. 10 lakhs, will make "recovery both easier and faster since surgery is minimally invasive," he says. Laparoscopic surgery is less painful and involves minimal scarring. Since the procedure involves a shorter hospital stay, it also involves less expenditure for the government.

The arthroscope, which costs Rs. 5 lakhs, confers the same benefits on the GRH's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. K. Nagappan, Orthopaedic Surgeon, says that with this instrument, used for keyhole diagnosis and surgery, patients take one tenth of the time to recover, as opposed to traditional open surgery.

The department is one of the biggest accident care units in the city, says A. Sivakumar, Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, adding that it conducted 2,500 surgeries last year.

The dialysis machine, which costs Rs. 5 lakh, is the Nephrology department's third dialysis machine. K. Padmanabhan, Head of the Department of Nephrology, says that a reverse osmosis water treatment plant is required for the machine, which has been sanctioned by the government. The machine, which will ensure that only treated water is supplied to the patients, will cost Rs. 4 lakhs.

At a function to inaugurate the new equipment, N. Thalavai Sundaram, Health Minister, said that health is a priority to the government and that they are willing to support the hospital as long as it performs well.

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