Vattikuti Foundation sets up knowledge-sharing body in India

Detroit (Michigan), June 6
At a time when over 15 crore Indians face knee and hip joint problems and one in four needs urgent joint replacement surgeries, Detroit-based non-profit Vattikuti Foundation has set up a knowledge-sharing body in India for surgeons specialising in the field.

The Joint Replacement Surgeons' Council of India would offer experienced practicing orthopaedic surgeons a forum to exchange knowledge on advanced techniques.

As for young surgeons, it would provide them with a variety of digital resources so as to significantly upgrade their joint replacement skills to be accomplished robotic surgeons.

"We have conceived the Joint Replacement Surgeons' Council of India to bring knowledge creators together and to move towards evidence-based medicine," Dr Mahendra Bhandari, CEO, Vattikuti Foundation, told IANS.

"Vattikuti Foundation is proud to have trained over 300 robotic surgeons in India by bringing in 150 mentors from outside the country in the last 10 years", added Bhandari, who also serves as director of Robotic Surgery Education and Research at Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, USA.

The foundation has acted as a catalyst in fueling the growth of robotic surgery in the last one decade by helping surgeons to become accomplished in the new technology.

Many Indian surgeons have created robotic surgery procedures that have been adopted by surgeons world-wide.

The foundation has so far awarded one-year Vattikuti fellowships to nearly 50 specialist surgeons with post-graduate qualifications in surgery.

At the first Joint Replacement Council meeting held in Gurugram recently, Dr Thomas Coon, Founder and Medical Director of Coon Joint Replacement Institute in San Francisco, described how Mako robotic system for hip and Knee surgery -- a robotic-arm assisted surgical technology -- is transforming the way hip and knee replacements are performed.

According to senior specialist Dr Jai Thilak and Professor at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi, surgeons have found robotic surgery to be truly helpful as it is precise.

With robotic surgery, soft tissue dissection is much less so the post-operative pain, bruising, swelling is reduced for the patient.