Honest answers to the questions patients actually ask

Traditional open surgery is like opening the entire bonnet of a car to change a spark plug. Laparoscopic surgery is like reaching in through a small opening with specialised tools.

Open surgery: a 6–10 inch incision, longer anaesthesia, a 5–7 day hospital stay, 4–6 weeks of recovery and a significant scar.

Laparoscopic surgery: 3–4 tiny incisions (each usually under 1 cm), shorter anaesthesia, a same-day or 1–2 day hospital stay, 1–2 weeks of recovery and minimal, barely visible scars.

A high-definition camera and specialised instruments let us perform the same operation with far less trauma to your body.

For most abdominal conditions, laparoscopic surgery is actually safer than open surgery:

• Smaller incisions mean a lower infection risk
• Less blood loss during surgery
• Faster recovery means less time for complications
• A shorter hospital stay lowers the risk of hospital-acquired infection

Not every case can be done laparoscopically. If your anatomy is complex or there are significant adhesions from previous surgery, we may need to convert to open surgery during the operation. This is uncommon, but always a possibility.

Bottom line: laparoscopy is the standard of care for most abdominal surgery when performed by experienced surgeons.

It depends entirely on your condition.

Often managed with medication: mild gastritis or acid reflux, early piles, a first episode of mild diverticulitis.

Usually needs surgery: gallstones that cause pain, infection or jaundice; most hernias (they don't heal on their own); appendicitis; bowel obstruction; most GI cancers.

My philosophy: if surgery can be avoided safely, I'll tell you. I don't operate unnecessarily. But if delaying surgery means you may end up in emergency at 2 AM, I'll be honest about that too.

Yes. The abdominal surgeries I perform are done under general anaesthesia, which means you are completely unconscious, you feel nothing and you have no memory of the procedure. A breathing tube supports your breathing and is removed before you wake up.

You'll meet the anaesthesiologist before surgery. They'll review your medical history and answer any questions about anaesthesia.

Endoscopy (gastroscopy and colonoscopy) is different — it is usually done under light sedation.

Every surgery carries risks, and you deserve to know them.

Common, and usually minor: temporary nausea from anaesthesia, shoulder-tip pain from the gas used in laparoscopy (settles in 24–48 hours), mild pain or a minor infection at the incisions, and tiredness for the first week.

Uncommon but serious: bleeding that needs treatment, injury to nearby organs such as the bowel or bile duct, blood clots in the legs or lungs (early walking helps prevent these) and complications of anaesthesia.

Your personal risk depends on your condition and overall health. We discuss it openly at your consultation, before you decide anything.

Absolutely — and I encourage it for major surgery.

Getting more than one perspective is smart medicine. A good surgeon won't be offended; they'll respect your diligence.

If you're coming to me for a second opinion, bring all your medical records, your imaging (CT, MRI, ultrasound reports plus the films or CDs) and your previous doctor's treatment plan. I'll review everything and give you an honest assessment — even if that means agreeing with your first doctor or suggesting a non-surgical approach. More about second opinions.

These are called "silent gallstones", and they are common.

The short answer: if you truly have no symptoms — no pain, no digestive trouble, no jaundice — we can often monitor rather than operate straight away.

The nuance:

• A proportion of silent stones become symptomatic over the following years
• Once symptoms start, they rarely go away on their own
• Emergency surgery (when stones cause infection or pancreatitis) is riskier than planned surgery

When I may recommend surgery even without symptoms: if you have diabetes, a thickened gallbladder wall, very large stones, or you are planning a pregnancy.

My advice: if you have stones, get evaluated. We'll look at your specific risk factors and decide together.

Unfortunately, no. Your gallbladder formed those stones because of the way it concentrates bile. If only the stones are removed, new ones tend to form again.

Removing the gallbladder is the permanent solution — and you don't need your gallbladder to live a normal life. Your liver still makes bile; it simply flows directly into the intestine instead of being stored. Most people notice no difference in their digestion after a few weeks.

Gallstones don't dissolve on their own. They either stay quiet or cause problems, such as:

• Acute cholecystitis (gallbladder infection): severe pain lasting hours or days, fever and chills; often needs urgent surgery
• Pancreatitis: a stone blocks the pancreatic duct, causing severe pain and vomiting that needs hospital admission — it can be life-threatening
• Jaundice: a stone slips into the bile duct, turning the skin and eyes yellow; this needs urgent treatment, often an endoscopic procedure followed by surgery

The pattern I see: patients who delay planned surgery often end up needing emergency surgery under worse conditions.

Yes — after a short adjustment period.

• Weeks 1–2: low-fat, easily digestible food — rice, khichdi, boiled vegetables, dal, fruit
• Weeks 3–4: gradually reintroduce your usual food and listen to your body
• Month 2 onwards: most patients eat normally with no restrictions

A small number of people notice loose stools after very fatty meals or occasional bloating; this usually settles and is manageable with small dietary changes. Many patients feel better because they're no longer living in fear of gallstone attacks.

The operation itself usually takes 30–45 minutes. Including preparation, recovery and observation, many patients spend only 4–6 hours in hospital and go home the same day. Some patients are advised to stay overnight — we'll tell you in advance what to expect in your case.

Laparoscopic gallbladder removal is one of the most common operations, and serious problems are uncommon — but you should know what they are before you decide.

Common and usually minor: shoulder-tip pain from the gas, soreness at the incisions, bloating, and loose stools after fatty meals for a few weeks.

Uncommon but serious:

• Bile leak from the liver bed or the closed-off duct — may need a drain or an endoscopic procedure
• Injury to the main bile duct — rare, but the most serious risk of this operation; it can need further surgery
• Bleeding or infection
• A stone left in the bile duct, which may need an endoscopic procedure (ERCP) to remove
• Conversion to open surgery if the gallbladder is badly inflamed or the anatomy is unclear

We explain your own level of risk at the consultation.

• Surgery day: drowsy from anaesthesia, mild soreness, short walks
• Days 1–2: pain controlled with tablets, walking around the house, light food
• Days 3–4: noticeably better, most pain gone
• Days 4–5: back to desk work and light activity
• Week 2: almost back to normal
• Week 6: cleared for heavy lifting, gym and sport

By type of work: office or desk job 4–5 days · light physical work 2 weeks · heavy lifting or manual labour 6 weeks. See the full gallbladder surgery guide.

No. A hernia is a structural weakness in the abdominal wall, and it only gets bigger over time.

If you wait: the bulge grows, pain increases, and there is a risk of incarceration (bowel gets stuck in the hernia — a surgical emergency) or strangulation (its blood supply is cut off — a life-threatening emergency).

When to operate: any hernia that causes pain or discomfort, any hernia that is growing, hernias in physically active people, and groin (inguinal) hernias in men.

When we might watch and wait: a very small, painless belly-button hernia in a low-risk patient, or elderly patients with significant medical risks.

Mesh is a medical-grade synthetic material (usually polypropylene) that acts as a scaffold to reinforce the weakened abdominal wall. Repairs with mesh have a much lower chance of the hernia coming back than repairs with stitches alone.

Is it safe? Modern hernia meshes are well studied and used in millions of repairs worldwide. Like any implant, mesh can occasionally cause problems: a small number of patients have groin discomfort that lasts for months, and rarely a mesh becomes infected or has to be removed. Some mesh products have been recalled over the years — ask us which mesh we plan to use and why.

Will I feel it? Most patients don't once they've healed; tissue grows over and through the mesh and it becomes part of the abdominal wall. If discomfort doesn't settle, tell us.

We go through these risks before surgery so you can decide with full information.

With modern laparoscopic mesh repair, the chance of recurrence is low.

Things that increase the risk: chronic cough (smoking, uncontrolled COPD), chronic constipation and straining, heavy lifting too soon after surgery, obesity, and poor nutrition.

My approach: address these risk factors before surgery where possible. If you smoke, we work on stopping. If you're constipated, we fix that first.

Usually, yes — and it's often better to fix everything in one operation. For example, an inguinal and an umbilical hernia can generally be repaired laparoscopically in a single sitting, with a recovery similar to fixing just one.

HPB (Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary) surgery is a specialised field because these organs don't forgive mistakes.

General surgery covers a wide range of procedures — hernias, appendix, gallbladder, bowel surgery.

HPB surgery focuses on liver resections (removing part of the liver), pancreatic surgery (tumours, chronic pancreatitis, cysts), complex bile duct problems (stones, strictures, tumours) and portal hypertension.

Why it matters: the liver and pancreas have complex blood-vessel anatomy, and a small technical error can be serious. Surgeons who do these operations regularly have better outcomes.

You may need an HPB specialist for: liver tumours or cysts, pancreatic tumours or chronic pancreatitis, bile duct stones that can't be removed endoscopically, and gallbladder cancer.

Most liver cysts are benign and harmless. Many people live their whole lives with one and never know.

Liver cysts need treatment when they cause pain or pressure, are very large, look like they may not be a simple cyst on imaging, or are growing quickly.

• Simple cysts: fluid-filled with smooth walls — almost always benign
• Complex cysts: solid parts, irregular walls or partitions — need further investigation

Most simple cysts only need periodic ultrasound monitoring. Only complex or symptomatic cysts need surgery.

Chronic pancreatitis is long-term inflammation of the pancreas. Common causes include long-term alcohol use, genetic factors, autoimmune conditions and a blocked pancreatic duct.

Symptoms: severe, recurring abdominal pain; weight loss (the pancreas isn't making enough digestive enzymes); and diabetes (it isn't making enough insulin).

Surgery can help when the pancreatic duct is blocked (a drainage operation), pseudocysts are causing pain, or the disease is concentrated in the head of the pancreas.

The reality: surgery doesn't "cure" chronic pancreatitis, but in selected patients it can greatly reduce pain and improve quality of life.

No. Pancreatic lumps and cysts can be:

• Benign: simple cysts, serous cystadenomas, pseudocysts (from inflammation)
• Pre-cancerous: IPMNs and mucinous cysts — some of these can turn into cancer
• Malignant: pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and neuroendocrine tumours (which are often slower-growing)

Why imaging and biopsy matter: we need to know exactly what we're dealing with before deciding on treatment. Some cysts only need monitoring; others need surgery.

First, take a breath. Early-stage GI cancers are often very treatable.

Your treatment plan depends on the stage (how deep the tumour goes, lymph node involvement, any spread), the location in the stomach, and the type of tumour (adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, GIST and others).

Treatment usually combines: surgery (partial or total gastrectomy), chemotherapy (often before and/or after surgery) and, in some cases, radiation.

What surgery involves: removing the cancer with a margin of healthy tissue and the nearby lymph nodes, preserving part of the stomach where possible — increasingly done laparoscopically.

Life after stomach surgery: you can live without a stomach. Smaller, more frequent meals are needed, and most patients adapt well within about six months.

We weigh three things:

1. Resectability — can the tumour be removed completely, with clear margins?
2. Fitness — are you well enough to tolerate major surgery?
3. Benefit vs. risk — will surgery improve survival and quality of life?

Surgery is most useful for early-stage cancers without distant spread in patients who are otherwise well. It may not help when the cancer has spread widely, is invading critical blood vessels, or there are severe heart or lung problems.

In borderline cases, chemotherapy is often given first to shrink the tumour and make surgery possible. These decisions are made together with your oncologist.

Curative surgery aims to remove all of the cancer for long-term survival. It needs complete removal with clear margins and may be followed by chemotherapy or radiation.

Palliative surgery aims to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life when the cancer is too advanced to remove completely — for example, bypassing a bowel blocked by a tumour.

Both have value. Even when cure isn't possible, surgery can restore the ability to eat, relieve pain and extend meaningful life.

Gastroscopy (upper endoscopy): a thin camera passes through the mouth into the food pipe, stomach and first part of the small intestine — looking for ulcers, gastritis, tumours, H. pylori infection and sources of bleeding.

Colonoscopy (lower endoscopy): the camera passes through the back passage into the whole large bowel — looking for polyps, colorectal cancer, colitis and sources of bleeding.

Both let us take biopsies or remove small polyps during the same procedure.

Not necessarily — it depends on your risk. Colonoscopy can find and remove pre-cancerous polyps before they turn into cancer, which is what makes bowel cancer one of the more preventable cancers. India has no national bowel-screening programme, so the decision is made individually.

It's worth discussing screening if you are over 45, or a parent, brother, sister or child has had bowel cancer or advanced polyps. With a family history, checks usually start at 40, or 10 years before the age at which your relative was diagnosed — whichever is earlier.

Get checked promptly, at any age, if you have: blood in the stool, a lasting change in bowel habit, unexplained weight loss, or anaemia without a clear cause.

Honestly, the preparation is the hardest part.

It involves a clear-liquid diet the day before, drinking a bowel-cleansing solution, and frequent trips to the toilet — so plan to stay at home.

Tips: chill the solution (it tastes better cold), drink it through a straw, and suck on a lemon wedge between glasses.

The good news: the procedure itself is easy. You're sedated, you feel very little, and it's over in 20–30 minutes.

Most polyps are removed during the same procedure (a polypectomy) and sent to the lab. Results usually take a few days, and based on the type and size of the polyps we tell you when your next colonoscopy should be. Occasionally a polyp contains early cancer and needs further surgery.

The bottom line: finding and removing polyps is exactly what colonoscopy is for — you've caught a problem before it became serious.

• Call or WhatsApp: +91 99701 34179
• Send an enquiry using the booking form — it opens WhatsApp with your details filled in

Consultations are by appointment at all three clinics in Nagpur and Katol. See locations.

No, you can book directly. If another doctor has already seen you, please bring their referral letter (if any), all test results, scans and imaging CDs, and a list of your current medicines.

• A photo ID (Aadhaar, PAN or passport)
• Your health insurance / TPA card, if you plan to use insurance
• All previous medical records related to your condition
• Imaging films or CDs — ultrasound, X-ray, CT, MRI
• Blood test results from the last six months
• A list of your current medicines (including supplements)
• The questions you want answered

A first consultation typically takes 20–30 minutes. That's time to understand your history, examine you, review your reports and imaging, explain the diagnosis in plain language, discuss the options and answer your questions. Follow-up visits are usually shorter.

Absolutely — I encourage it. Medical conversations can be overwhelming. A family member can ask the questions you forget, hear the same information first-hand, and support you.

Most planned surgeries can be done under health insurance, but coverage depends on your policy.

Before surgery: check with your insurer or TPA that your procedure is covered, ask about room-rent limits, co-payment and sub-limits, and get pre-authorisation where needed. Cashless treatment depends on whether the hospital is in your insurer's network — our team will help with the paperwork.

Consultation fees are usually paid directly; some policies reimburse them.

Medical care should be accessible. Options include health insurance, hospital EMI plans, and government schemes such as PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat) for eligible families.

Tell me about your financial constraints at the consultation. We'll work together on a solution — whether that's choosing a hospital with lower costs, timing the surgery sensibly, or exploring assistance programmes. I won't rush you into unnecessary procedures or pressure you financially.

Not while you're taking strong pain medication. As a guide:

• Endoscopy with sedation: not for the rest of the day
• Laparoscopic gallbladder or hernia surgery: 3–5 days
• Major surgery: 2–4 weeks

If you couldn't brake hard comfortably in an emergency, you're not ready yet.

As a rule of thumb, wait about 2 weeks for domestic flights and 4 weeks for international travel. Sitting still for long periods raises the risk of blood clots, and it's best to stay close to your surgical team while you heal. If you need to travel sooner, talk to me — precautions such as compression stockings and walking during the flight can help.

The surgery itself doesn't cause weight gain. But many patients eat less before surgery because food triggers pain — and once the pain is gone, appetite returns. A balanced diet and regular activity keep things steady. Your metabolism hasn't changed; your eating habits may have.

First 2 weeks: no. Alcohol interferes with pain medication and slows healing.

Longer term: after gallbladder removal, moderation is fine. After pancreatic surgery, avoid or strictly limit alcohol — it stresses the pancreas. After cancer surgery, discuss it with your oncologist.

In the short term, avoid sexual activity for about 2 weeks, or until abdominal movement is comfortable. In the long term, abdominal surgery doesn't affect sexual function. The exception is surgery low in the pelvis (for example some rectal cancer operations), which can occasionally affect nerves — I'll discuss this with you if it's relevant.

Usually, yes — abdominal surgery rarely affects fertility. A few situations need extra thought, such as repairing groin hernias on both sides in men, or scarring in the pelvis after a burst appendix in women. If you're planning a family, tell me before surgery so we can plan around it.

After major surgery it's generally best to wait several months before a pregnancy — let's discuss the timing for your situation.