Delhi woman has robotic surgery for rare adrenal tumour removal

Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital have successfully removed a record-sized adrenal tumour measuring 18.2 x 13.5 cm from a 36-year-old woman from Delhi using robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, officials said. Performed entirely free of cost at the government-run hospital, the robotic adrenalectomy is being hailed as the largest such removal globally, with similar procedures in private hospitals costing between ₹1.8 lakh and ₹5 lakh.

The patient, suffering from persistent abdominal pain for months, was diagnosed only after scans at Safdarjung revealed the large tumour. The three-hour procedure was led by Dr Pawan Vasudeva, professor and head, department of urology and renal transplant. “The tumour had grown to the size of a melon, situated between the liver, kidney, and inferior vena cava, exerting pressure on these critical structures,” Vasudeva said.

“Normally, for such a large tumour, open surgery is performed, which can cause significant blood loss and a recovery time of three weeks. In this robotic adrenalectomy, recovery was reduced to about a week,” he added. He further explained that robotic surgery involved smaller, precise incisions—around 8cm compared to the 20cm incision needed for open surgery—leading to less postoperative pain and a quicker return to normal activities.