Guyana on Tuesday entered a new era of medical innovation after surgeons at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation successfully performed the country’s first robotic and cardiac telesurgery procedures, including a landmark heart operation conducted across continents.
A Government of Guyana release said the achievement included what is believed to be the world’s longest-distance robotic cardiac surgery, spanning approximately 20,000 kilometres between Guyana and India.
The landmark cardiac telesurgery was performed at approximately 6:00 a.m. by internationally renowned cardiac surgeon Dr Sudhir Srivastava, who operated remotely from Guyana on a patient in India using the SSI Mantra 3 robotic surgical system.
The procedure involved a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft and was supported onsite in India by Dr Lalit Malik and Dr Mohit Bhandari.
In a parallel breakthrough at GPHC, Guyanese surgeon Dr Hemraj Ramcharran led a robotic inguinal hernia repair, assisted by Dr Bibi Hussain and Dr Jagnanand Ramnarine. Following the successful operation, Ramcharran became the first Guyanese and the first surgeon in the English-speaking Caribbean to perform robotic surgery locally.
The medical team had previously undergone specialised robotic surgery training in India, officials said.
Later in the day, Srivastava also performed a robotic Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) repair on a patient in Guyana. The condition is a congenital heart defect involving an abnormal opening in the wall separating the upper chambers of the heart.
The series of procedures marks the first use of robotic surgery and telemedicine in Guyana, highlighting international collaboration, advances in minimally invasive surgery, and expanded capacity building for local healthcare professionals.
