Like hundreds of other heart patients in the city, 47-year-old Gopal Bhandari was suspected to have a blockage in one of his coronary arteries after he had an episode of chest pain with sweating and inability to move his left arm, while at work.

He was recommended an angiography, followed by an angioplasty (a minimally invasive procedure for treatment of clogged arteries).

There was one problem, though. He was neither able to lie flat on his back, nor sit still for more than five minutes at a stretch, owing to a deformity of the spine (ankylosing spondylosis), which causes a pronounced bend in the upper back.

?The challenge here was to find an alternative access route to the arteries of the heart, as opposed to the frequently-practised femoral approach (accessed from the groin area), which requires the patient to lie flat on the back for 30-60 minutes,? says Aftab Khan, senior consultant interventional cardiologist, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals.

He performed both the angiography and the angioplasty, with the patient sitting up, pillows supporting his back.

?We adopted the radial approach (through the wrist) and were able to perform the entire case within 45 minutes, causing minimum physical discomfort to the patient, allowing him to walk home within two days,? says Khan, who now performs 95 per cent of all his procedures through the radial artery. Apollo Gleneagles is the ?only centre in the eastern region? adopting the radial approach, the heart doctor declares.

?I was absolutely comfortable sitting through the procedure and hardly felt any pain. It was an unbelievable experience and I would recommend it to anyone who needs such intervention,? Bhandari tells Metro. He is glad to be able to resume active work after just a two-week break.

Khan says the efficacy of this method has been spreading by ?word of mouth? and patients are referring other patients. ?Mr Bhandari was an obvious candidate for the radial route because of his spine deformity, but even otherwise, many patients with artery disease are opting for this approach for its multiple benefits over femoral access,? he adds.

A smaller incision means the patient experiences less pain and recovers faster. Also, since the incision is on the wrist as opposed to the groin area, patients can move about soon after the procedure. This results in shorter hospital stay and saving on bills.

The promise of a pain-free procedure and speedy recovery has been driving patients to the Bypass healthcare address to undergo angiography as a walk-in procedure without the need for hospitalisation. With newer techniques emerging in the field of minimally invasive cardiac intervention, city patients can now look forward to painless treatment and almost instant post-operative recovery, predict interventional cardiologists.