Exploring Minimally Invasive Surgery Options

People might still be scared of incisions or long recovery times, but possibilities with a good surgeon using minimally invasive procedures means quicker outcomes and less downtime.

In minimally invasive surgery, for instance, your surgeon will need to make small incisions so that a tube containing a camera and surgical tools can pass through them, resulting in less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stay and faster recovery.

Laparoscopic Surgery

Laparoscopy is also rapidly being incorporated into the armamentarium of the gynaecological surgeon for its many benefits of reducing recovery times, patient discomfort and postoperative complications. However, learning the details first need to be done before a procedure is scheduled.

Minimally invasive surgery differs from standard open surgery in that minimally invasive procedures require smaller openings be made in the body, as this creates just enough space to allow the surgeon to operate, while at the same time avoiding the creation of large, highly scarring openings in the body.

Smaller cuts mean that there’s less blood loss and lower infection risks, and patients can now recover at home or in the clinic far more rapidly – many can be back at work within days, rather than the weeks that open surgery used to call for.

Laparoscopy is used both therapeutically and diagnostically, frequently in the latter capacity to figure out where pelvic or abdominal pain lesions are coming from when an ultrasound, CT scan or MRI scan does not provide a clear answer.

Perhaps the largest advance in laparoscopic surgery is Single Incision Laparoscopy (SILS), where a cut of three to four incisions is replaced by a single abdominal cut into the belly button. Although this is typically performed on those without prior abdominal surgeries or someone who seeks to have an aesthetically pleasing recovery for their narcissism, such an experience is possible provided that a surgeon is well-trained in different refinements of minimally invasive procedures. Patients recovering at home the same day require being able to control their own pain and void on their own.

Robotic Surgery

The interactive robotic arm system allows surgeons to operate much like they normally would through one of the interactive arms. They can and do perform such things as contour, suture, dissect, cauterise and manipulate tissue using an infinite number of degrees of freedom – or, put another way, an infinite number of tiny movements – in all dimensions. The surgeon sits at the master console with an interactive arm next to the operating table and under the influence of the anaesthesiologist; wearing 3D glasses, he can see everything the surgeon in the operating room sees. A robotic surgical system consists of the surgeon’s interactive robotic arm, interactive arms that move with precision, on the operating table where the surgeon performs the surgery, and a console full of video and imaging equipment in the operating room. By sitting in front of the console, the surgeon under the influence of the anaesthesiologist can operate with more degrees of freedom (when it comes to making a precise move using a robotic arm) than a laparoscopic surgeon working with laparoscopic instruments. The surgeon sees this image from his position under the influence of the anaesthesiologist.

Like other minimally invasive approaches, robotic surgery allows patients to heal faster and get back to their normal lives more quickly. All but a few robotic procedures can be performed on a same-day or outpatient basis – reducing inpatient stays by as much as half, freeing up hospital beds and staff to care for an even greater number of seriously ill patients.

As with any surgical procedure, you must weigh the potential benefits and risks of robotic surgery with your doctor beforehand; your surgeon will explain all the surgical options – open or minimally invasive – that could treat your condition.

In robotic surgery, your surgeon makes a few tiny incisions and then places ports (slender tubes) to allow him or her to access your body through them. At the other end of the ports are the robotic instruments which are controlled by your surgeon from a nearby console, along with the endoscope (a long, narrow camera sending your surgeon high-definition images in three dimensions via video).

Medical facilities need to have well-structured training programs for surgeons with respect to these new robotic surgeries so that we don’t lose patients in these procedures, but at the same time we also build a competent robotics workforce – one where we have mentorship, hours of proctoring and scope for the surgeons to refine their skills. As we move away from one type of surgery to another robotics based surgery, it is possible that there might be new challenges along the way. It is very important that the healthcare institutions support both the surgeons and the patients through this transition period.