Location & Charges

It is possible that some surgeons may use old tension repairs like Bassini or Shouldice under the pretext of mesh free surgery. So always insist for mesh free repair by "DESARDA TECHNIQUE" only

Mesh, a piece of synthetic cloth, never gives protection by itself as believed by many. Body forms a curtain around the scaffold of mesh and then it takes another 2-3 years to gain strength in it to give protection. Till then you are not 100% protected !!!

We advise not to get inguinal hernia repair done through laparoscope because the mesh is inserted inside the abdomen and may cause more serious complications.

Separate informed consent in writing is required before mesh repair to avoid future legal complications !!!

GUIDE FOR PROCEDURE, LOCATION & CHARGES

Prof. Dr. Desarda has retired from medical practice. Operation is done at reduced cost by associate consultant surgeon trained by us at Pune at your own risk and responsibility. Pay just hospital bill whatever it is and Rs. 15000/- or $500/- (For NRI & Foreign patients) per hernia as administrative expenses not reimbursed by the insurance companies. We do not take any responsibility of these packages, charges and surgery or after recovery. It will be sole responsibility of you and your operating surgeon.* Send an email to us to avail this facility. (desarda@hotmail.com) 

            You can plan to arrive in Pune at any time. Make sure that you bring your regular clothes, money, passport with visa endorsement and personal items, just as you would normally do for tours and travel. You can Google “Pune weather” for an overview of seasonal changes in temperature and rainfall.  If you are not accustomed to high summer temperatures you may wish to avoid the hottest months of March, April and May. 

            The operative procedure is normally done under spinal anesthesia.  Our repair uses a strong muscle very close to the hernia site. A strip is re-positioned from a nearby muscle called the external oblique aponeurosis. This strong strip of muscle is sutured onto the weak area so that the weak area receives a new support of natural muscle tissue. Moreover, the recurrence rate in this operation is virtually zero. For technical details of the operative procedure, please click on the 'Technique' section of our web pages.

 MORE DETAILS ABOUT VISA, TAXI, BUS, MOBILE CARD ETC 

1 Visa: As of February 2017, citizens of 150 countries can apply for an Indian e-Tourist Visa on Arrival. However, this name is misleading, as you must apply online 4 days before your flight departs rather than just getting the visa upon arrival in India. The price is $60 USD and you must have an electronic photo of yourself on a light background as well as an electronic photo of your passport page. They say that it can require up to 4 days to process, but in practice, assuming there are no missing parts of your application, you should receive the authorization much quicker, often in 1 day. You must print out a copy of the e-Tourist Visa authorization they send you via email and take it to the airport. The airlines will not let you board without a copy of the eTV authorization page, although most airports will have a service desk where you can print it out for a fee. The website to apply for the e-Tourist Visa on Arrival is:https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html  It is much easy and faster to get tourist visa.

2 It is suggested to purchase a mobile phone SIM card at the airport. Because it takes a few hours for it to be activated, it is better to purchase it at the airport rather than trying to buy one when you need it, only to find out that it won’t be active for a few hours. The three main mobile phone operators in India are AirTel or Vodafone. All of them should be adequate although AirTel coverage inside Poona Hospital is poor, vodafone gives better coverage. You will require your passport and also a small “passport-type” photo (the mobile phone store can usually take the photo for a fee of 10 – 20 rupees). The cost should be somewhere around 200 rupees to get the card and about 175MB of data (this price also includes 65 rupees of credit for calls). Make sure your phone is unlocked for use with foreign SIM cards before you leave your home country.

3 Download the Google Maps app to your phone before arriving in India. Apple Maps coverage and details are poor in India – Google Maps is much better. Also, in Google Maps, you can download offline maps for use when you have no Internet connection – Highly recommended to download maps for Mumbai and Pune before you come to India.

4 Travel from Mumbai Airport: There are no direct buses travelling from Mumbai Airport to Pune. Your options are either a shared taxi ride or else Uber / taxi to the Dadar East railway station + a bus to Pune + a rickshaw / Tuk-Tuk to your hotel. 

For the shared taxi ride, you can use the KK Travels website (www.kktravels.com). Please keep in mind that you must book your shared cab at least 24 hours beforehand.

For the bus ticket, you can purchase the tickets at Dadar East Railway Station (there are many sellers of “Volvo A/C Bus” to the east of the railway station on Swami Gyan Jivandas Marg Road (across from the Post Office). You can also purchase online at Yatra.com but be aware that the purchase must be 3 days in advance of travel if using a non-India credit or debit card. Oftentimes, the buses do not directly go to the station, but rather a shuttle bus takes you to the long-distance bus. For this reason, it is recommended to purchase the bus tickets from one of the many vendors at the station, as they will make sure that you are in the right place at the right time. Additionally, they can make recommendations such as a closer bus stop to the airport (for example, such as Andheri instead of Dadar East).

Rickshaw / Tuk-Tuk drivers will commonly double the price for foreigners. When they offer you a price, halve it and see what they say. If they object, either walk away or insist on them using the official taxi meter.

It is highly recommended to read the reviews on TripAdvisor.com and book hotels using either Agoda.com or TripAdvisor.com before coming to India. 

For exchanging foreign currency, avoid outlets (like Thomas Cook, for example) that charge a large fee of 100 to 500 rupees (they call it a ‘tax’) as well as have a poor exchange rate. Changing money at State Bank of India (SBI) or Central Bank of India (CBI) will give a better rate, but may involve a wait in line. For a “good” non-bank money exchange place, you should expect no fees and a loss of about 6% compared to the online exchange rate. For example if the median exchange rate is 67 rupees per USD, expect to receive about 63 rupees per USD with no fees. You will need to provide your passport. We can try to help you in getting better deal with private foreign exchange dealers. 

Many hotels, foreign / larger restaurants accept credit cards, which is a good way to pay if you have a credit card that doesn’t charge a fee for foreign transactions (such as a Capital One card). You will get a much better exchange rate than the cash exchange rate. However, if the merchant offers to change the transaction to your native currency (such as USD), say no and ask them to make the charge in rupees – The exchange rates they offer and the fees that they charge for this “service” are very poor.

Power plugs: European style plugs will generally work in Indian outlets. For US / UK / Australian-type plugs, you will need to purchase an adapter. If your equipment will work on 230 volts, you can just purchase a passive plug-type adapter (about 20 rupees). If you require voltage conversion from 230 to 110, then that adapter will be more expensive.

CONTACT EMAIL: desarda@gmail.com or  desarda@hotmail.com

* Choose the option of operation at reduced cost by associate surgeon at your own risk and responsibility. We do not take any responsibility of these packages and surgery or after recovery. It will be sole responsibility of you and your operating surgeon.