Dhaka Medical College Becomes First in Bangladesh to Perform Robot-Assisted Heart Surgery

A 12-person cardiac surgery team at Dhaka Medical College Hospital has successfully performed Bangladesh's first robot-assisted coronary artery bypass surgery using the da Vinci Xi surgical system — a milestone that positions the hospital among elite cardiac care centres in South Asia.

The Procedure

The four-hour surgery on a 57-year-old patient with triple-vessel coronary artery disease was led by Dr Shaheen Ahmed and Dr Farhana Begum. The robotic system allowed keyhole incisions, reducing recovery time from 6-8 weeks to 10-14 days.

Future Plans

The hospital plans to perform 200 robot-assisted procedures annually across cardiac, urological and oncological specialties by 2027. Training programmes for 50 surgeons are underway in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medicine.