Should I Have Minimally Invasive Surgery?

Surgery is difficult topic for the general public. Although surgery is used to treat many diseases, the pain, stress, and trauma caused by traditional surgical procedures can make a patient afraid to proceed with the best treatment modality.

And they may wonder, will the wound be large? Will pain persist after surgery? When will life go back to normal?

Fortunately, these days many surgeries that can be performed with minimally invasive techniques. What exactly is minimally invasive surgery?

Minimally invasive surgery involves the use of endoscopes and a variety of imaging techniques to assist surgeons in performing surgeries without creating a large wound. Early minimally invasive surgery was known as “laparoscopic surgery” because only laparotomy was replaced by minimally invasive surgery. Later, when minimally invasive surgery techniques became popular, its scope of application gradually expanded to other sites.

The concept of minimally invasive surgery has been at the forefront of medical care in Western countries since the 1990s. Europe, the United States, and some Asian countries have long regarded it as a standard treatment, and have developed woundless endoscopic surgery. With newer technology, modern medical care, in addition to improving the therapeutic effect of treatment, has also attached great importance to reducing pain caused during the course of treatment and improving safety.

The purpose of surgery is to treat diseases, and minimally invasive surgery creates smaller wounds, less blood loss, and rapid recovery, which can minimize the extent of trauma without affecting the therapeutic effect. This significantly reduces the risk of infection, pain and the length of hospital stay, and allows the patient to return to work and normal life faster. Therefore, minimally invasive surgery has become the trend of surgical development, and it is also required training for surgeons.

The basic operation flow of minimally invasive surgery (ie. : Laparoscopy):After anesthesia, the physician makes 3-4 small incisions with a diameter of approximately 1 cm on the patient’s abdominal wall, then inserts a puncture trocar into the body cavity to provide access to instruments. A tiny camera lens is placed in one of the holes to connect the patient’s body image to the TV screen, and other abdominal wall incisions contain scissors, pliers or other surgical instruments. The surgical procedure is essentially the same as open surgery, but the doctor is watching the in-vivo images on the screen to control the surgical instruments outside the patient’s body, clamping, cutting, and sewing the diseased tissue, and finally putting the removed mass into a specimen bag. It is then removed and surgery is complete. For example, minimally invasive surgery of the gallbladder polyps has become the most standard. 3-4 surgical incisions of about one centimeter each are created, without cutting muscles. Therefore, abdominal breathing is restored early, and no large scar is created. There is almost no effect on postoperative abdominal movements and feeling, and lung complications are much lower than conventional abdominal cholecystectomy. Additionally, the operation time is short, with an average of 30-60 minutes, and this may benefit the peristalsis of the bowel movements, early intake of food, and pain management.

Minimally invasive surgery removes the need for patients to open their bowels to cure a disease. The purpose of resection can be achieved through several small 1cm wounds. Patients can be relieved of thenightmare of wound pain, have a shorter recovery time and hospital stay. Using gastrointestinal surgery as an example, in advanced countries,, laparoscopy has been used as the standard treatment for gallbladder and bile duct stones, liver surgery, colorectal cancer, gastroesophageal reflux, resection of gastric cancer, resection of the kidneys and adrenal glands, and even obesity. Nowadays, many countries even use the da Vinci robotic system to perform minimally invasive surgery.

Currently, quick advances in technology are also pushing the advancement of medical science. Imaging has also progressed to 3D and high-definition video. Devices have evolved to be rotating and wristed. In addition to advancements in hardware, the concept of using minimally invasive techniques is not limited to surgery. Any examination and treatment that can reduce the patient’s discomfort is a purpose for minimally invasive medical treatment. For example, the capsule endoscope in the gastroenterology department, the laser therapy for the prostate in the urology department, and the placement of vascular stents for coronary artery disease in the cardiology department have been included in the scope of minimally invasive medicine. The medical community is continuing its development and progress in this direction.

The surgical department of Shanghai United Family Pudong Hospital can provide many kinds of minimally invasive surgery, including appendix surgery, gallbladder surgery, stomach and bowel surgery. In addition, we also provide minimally invasive surgery for blood vessel diseases. These operations not only improve aesthetics, but also reduce hospitalization time, pain level, and recovery time.