In a historic feat of medical innovation, doctors at the Fortis Heart Institute in Okhla, New Delhi, have successfully conducted India’s first robot-assisted coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery combined with a radical mastectomy. The 11-hour, dual-procedure operation was performed on a 72-year-old woman from Bangladesh suffering from advanced stage III breast cancer and severe coronary artery disease.
The patient arrived in critical condition with acute breathlessness, fatigue, and continuous bleeding from an ulcerated breast tumor. She was diagnosed with life-threatening blockages in three coronary arteries and aggressive breast cancer. Her frail cardiac status rendered her unfit for conventional cancer surgery, while delaying cancer treatment risked systemic infection and metastasis.
Faced with this dual threat, the multidisciplinary team at Fortis, led by Dr. Ritwick Raj Bhuyan (Cardiothoracic Surgery), Dr. Archit Pandit (Surgical Oncology), and Dr. Vineet Goel (Surgical Oncology), opted for a rare and ambitious strategy: treating both conditions in a single surgical session.
The operation began with a minimally invasive, robotic-assisted bypass to stabilize cardiac function. Using small incisions between the ribs, surgeons avoided open-chest surgery, thereby reducing surgical trauma. Immediately afterward, without changing the surgical field, the team performed a modified radical mastectomy to excise the ulcerated, bleeding tumor and affected lymph nodes.
“This was more than just a surgical challenge—it was a race against time,” said Dr. Bhuyan. “Only with robotic precision, meticulous planning, and seamless teamwork could such a high-risk dual procedure be completed successfully.”
Following surgery, the patient spent 12 days in intensive care and has since returned to Bangladesh in stable condition. She continues to receive post-operative care under the guidance of Fortis medical experts.
Dr. Vikram Aggarwal, Director of Fortis Escorts Medical Center, called the surgery a landmark moment for Indian medicine. “This dual robotic surgery underscores our commitment to clinical excellence and reinforces our leadership in advanced, multidisciplinary care,” he said.
Robotic-assisted CABG remains a developing field in India, and its integration with simultaneous oncological surgery is exceedingly rare—especially in elderly, high-risk patients. This case opens new possibilities for combining life-saving treatments with greater precision and fewer complications.
The success of this operation reflects both the evolving capabilities of robotic surgery and the power of collaborative, patient-centric medical care.
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