📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Dr.saptarshi
Health
AIIMS Performs First Prenatal Spinal Surgery on a Fetus in India
✍️ The Times of India
🗓 15 Nov 2026, 12:24 PM
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Doctors at AIIMS New Delhi successfully carried out a pioneering in‑utero operation to correct a spinal defect in a baby, marking the first such procedure in the country.
In a landmark medical achievement, surgeons at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi have performed a prenatal operation to repair a spinal abnormality in a fetus. The procedure, carried out before the baby was born, is the first of its kind in India.
The surgical team accessed the fetus through a minimally invasive technique, correcting the defect while the pregnancy was still ongoing. Such in‑utero interventions are rare worldwide and are typically reserved for severe spinal conditions that could lead to paralysis or lifelong disability if left untreated.
Hospital officials said the successful outcome demonstrates AIIMS’s growing capability in fetal surgery and could open avenues for similar procedures across the country. The baby is expected to be delivered later this year and will be monitored closely for post‑natal recovery.
The surgical team accessed the fetus through a minimally invasive technique, correcting the defect while the pregnancy was still ongoing. Such in‑utero interventions are rare worldwide and are typically reserved for severe spinal conditions that could lead to paralysis or lifelong disability if left untreated.
Hospital officials said the successful outcome demonstrates AIIMS’s growing capability in fetal surgery and could open avenues for similar procedures across the country. The baby is expected to be delivered later this year and will be monitored closely for post‑natal recovery.