The complication, known as an ileo-vesical fistula, required complex surgery. Rajesh underwent robotic multi-specialty surgery at MITR Hospital, Navi Mumbai, performed by a joint team of urological and gastrointestinal surgeons entirely through keyhole incisions. He is now home and pain-free, able to plan his life without planning around his illness.
An ileo-vesical fistula is a rare and serious complication of long-standing Crohn’s disease. In Rajesh’s case, 15 years of chronic inflammation had caused extensive scarring. Conventional laparoscopy carried the risk of injuring surrounding organs, while open surgery would have required a large abdominal incision and a much longer recovery.
Using a robotic system with magnified 3D vision and instruments capable of movements the human hand cannot replicate, the surgical team removed the diseased bowel segment, closed the abnormal opening in the bladder and reconstructed the bladder wall in a single operation through small incisions.
Dr Manish Dubey, Senior Urologist & Robotic Surgeon, MITR Hospital, said, “This case required close coordination between urology and gastrointestinal surgery, given the severe scarring built up over 15 years of Crohn's disease. The robotic platform gave us the precision and three-dimensional clarity to dissect safely through tissue that would have been extremely difficult to navigate otherwise. The patient walking out in days rather than weeks is the result we always aim for.”
Dr Vijaykumar Malladi, General & GI Surgeon, MITR Hospital, said, “The intestinal component of this surgery — resecting the diseased bowel and restoring continuity — is technically demanding even in routine cases. In a patient with 15 years of Crohn's-related scarring, the robotic system allowed us to work with a level of precision and safety that would not have been possible through conventional means. This is exactly the kind of case where multi-specialty robotic surgery delivers results that truly change a patient's life.”
Rajesh (name changed), the patient, said, “For fifteen years, I lived with pain that never really went away — just good days and bad days. Towards the end, even the good days became rare. I’m just grateful to MITR Hospital team for being able to plan my life again instead of planning around my illness.”
For patients, robotic surgery replaces the conventional image of large scars and weeks of recovery with a minimally invasive approach. Surgeons operate through a few small keyhole openings using magnified 3D vision and instruments that are more flexible than the human wrist, resulting in less blood loss, less pain and a faster return home. Many MITR Hospital patients are walking the same day and discharged the next.
In cancer operations such as radical prostatectomy, robotic precision can also protect the delicate nerves that control bladder function, a difference that matters long after the patient goes home.
MITR Hospital has performed over 70 robotic urological and urogynaecological procedures since 2024 across the full spectrum of the specialty. These include cancer surgeries such as radical prostatectomy, partial and radical nephrectomy; complex reconstruction procedures including pyeloplasty, Boari flap, ureteric reimplantation and augmentation cystoplasty; and urogynaecological procedures such as sacrocolpopexy and vesicovaginal fistula repair.
The procedures are delivered from the 25-bedded focused surgical centre, where every patient has direct access to their treating surgeon.
Dr Vijaykumar Yadav, Consultant Urologist, MITR Hospital, said, “Robotic surgery has transformed our ability to manage complex cases in a minimally invasive way. Cases that once required large incisions and prolonged hospital stays can now be performed precisely through small ports, with patients recovering at home within days.”
MITR Hospital is a super speciality surgical hospital in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. Established in 2010, the hospital is led by a team of specialist doctors and surgeons. In the last 16 years, MITR Hospital has served 1.2 lakh patients with more than 20,000 successful surgeries.
Its departments include a comprehensive urology department covering Adult Urology, Andrology and Pediatric Urology services, along with General and GI Surgery, Gynecology, Gastreneterology & Hepatology, Orthopedics, Arthoroscopy & Joint Replacement and Internal Medicine.
Led by senior specialists and supported by dedicated nursing and anaesthesia teams, the hospital is committed to delivering the highest standard of surgical care with the personal attention that larger institutions cannot always provide.
For Rajesh, the robotic procedure has brought an end to years of living around the limitations imposed by Crohn’s disease, following a complex multi-specialty operation that addressed both the diseased bowel and the abnormal connection with the urinary bladder.
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