Two patients at Kings Hospital Colombo underwent surgery today while their surgeons operated remotely from New Delhi more than 3000 km away marking Sri Lanka’s first two robotic telesurgeries.
Prof. Srinath Chandrasekera and Prof. Bawantha Gamage performed the procedures using a robotic surgical system linked across borders through high-speed communication networks. The achievement places Sri Lanka among a select group of nations that have demonstrated cross-border robotic telesurgery. Specialist surgeons were present alongside the patients in Colombo throughout both operations, ready to intervene immediately if any clinical or technical difficulty arose.
Both procedures were completed remotely without requiring intervention by the on-site surgeons, underscoring the importance of combining advanced technology with on-site surgical support.
Beyond the technological milestone, the development points to a potentially significant change in how patients in Sri Lanka could access specialist care in the future. A patient in any province who currently needs to travel to major cities for surgery could, one day in the future, receive treatment at a suitably equipped regional hospital while a specialist operates from a centre of excellence.
Similarly, expertise from overseas could become accessible without patients having to leave Sri Lanka. Robotic telesurgery allows a surgeon’s movements at a remote console to control surgical instruments beside the patient. Enhanced visualisation and precise instrument control enable surgeons to perform intricate surgical tasks across considerable distances.
The latest procedures build on Kings Hospital Colombo’s earlier completion of Sri Lanka’s first robotic cardiac surgery.
The technology also offers opportunities for surgical training and international collaboration, allowing local teams to observe and learn from specialists performing procedures remotely. Wider adoption will require reliable communication networks, appropriately equipped hospitals, trained teams and clear regulatory and safety protocols. While these first two procedures demonstrate what is possible, their broader promise lies in bringing specialist surgical expertise closer to patients wherever they live.
This is not simply a milestone for Kings Hospital Colombo. It is a milestone for Sri Lanka as proof of feasibility of future advanced surgery where distance does not have to be a barrier to specialised surgical care, and where every Sri Lankan has the opportunity to benefit from medical expertise, wherever they live.