Colombian surgeon performs remote bariatric surgery on patient in India

A bariatric sleeve gastrectomy was performed on a patient in Indore, India, while the operating surgeon controlled the procedure from the Hospital Internacional de Colombia in Piedecuesta, Santander, using the SSI Mantra 3 robotic system. The operation was conducted over a satellite link covering roughly 15,000 kilometres, making it the longest-distance tele‑surgery recorded. Surgeon Sudhir Srivastava, a specialist in robotic surgery and founder of the system’s developer, operated from a console in Colombia and guided the robot’s instruments in real time, with a local medical team present to assume manual control if needed. The surgery was reported as successful, demonstrating the feasibility of trans‑continental tele‑surgery for complex procedures such as bariatric, cardiac and orthopedic operations, and highlighting the role of AI‑enhanced imaging in improving precision.