Monthly Archives - February 2021

25 Feb

What is an Endoscopy?

Endoscopy is a non-surgical procedure performed using a scope, a flexible tube with a camera and light at the tip. This allows your surgeon to see inside your body and perform procedures without making larger incisions, allowing for easier recovery time and less pain and discomfort. Endoscopic procedures are most often used for diagnosis.

What is an endoscope?

During an endoscopy, the surgeon inserts a tool called an endoscope into a person’s body. Most endoscopes are thin tubes with a powerful light and miniature camera at the end.

The endoscope’s length and flexibility depend upon the part of the body the doctor needs to see.

For example, a straight endoscope helps the surgeon look at joints. Meanwhile, a flexible one helps a doctor inspect the inside of the colon.

Why is endoscopic surgery done?

Endoscopy is performed for diagnosis and inspection as well as treatment and surgery. Endoscopic surgery is used in several fields of medicine: in gynecology, endoscopic surgery, called hysteroscopy, is very common for treating uterine pathologies, such as cysts, endometriosis, myomas, and also for performing tubal ligation, investigating infertility, or hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). However, these pathologies are also frequently treated using laparoscopy, in which the surgery is performed via a small cut made in the abdominal wall. It is also used in different fields, such as otorhinolaryngology, in which sinonasal endoscopic surgery is very common for healing lesions or problems of the nose that impair normal breathing, affect the sense of smell, or cause face or head pain. Also, in general, and gastrointestinal surgery endoscopy or laparoscopy may be used in surgery for obesity. Endoscopy may also be performed in emergencies, for example in neurosurgery to treat brain hemorrhage or a cerebrovascular accident (stroke).

Care following the intervention

The main benefit of endoscopic surgery in comparison to other surgical techniques is that it’s of a less invasive type, which allows a faster recovery. So, you will be hospitalized only for a few hours, sometimes being discharged on the same day as the intervention. Generally, your endoscopy surgeon can advise you to resume your daily activities 48-72 hours after the intervention. Postoperative discomfort is also less, so complete rest is not required and you can pursue your life as normal.

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17 Feb

What Is A Laparoscopy?

Laparoscopy is a surgical diagnostic procedure used to examine the organs inside the abdomen. It is also known as diagnostic laparoscopy. It’s a low-risk, minimally invasive method that requires only small cuts. The process gets its name from the ‘Laparoscope’, a thin tool that has a tiny video camera and light on the end. When a surgeon inserts it through a small incision into your body, they can look at a video monitor and see what’s happening inside.

Some of the primary benefits of laparoscopic surgery over traditional open surgery are as below:

  • Laparoscopic surgeries often require a shorter hospital stay than traditional open surgery
  • Patients also experience less discomfort and bleeding after surgery
  • As the cut wound is much smaller than the large incision made in traditional open surgery, post-surgical scarring is significantly less.
  • Patients get back to their normal activities sooner
  • The exposure of internal organs to possible external contaminants is less thereby reduced the risk of inviting infection

The primary procedure involves the following steps:

  • A patient is given general anesthesia and feels no pain throughout the procedure
  • One or more small cuts are made in the abdomen, usually around the belly button area
  • A tube is inserted at the incision site and the abdomen is inflated by carbon dioxide gas. This provides the surgeon a better glimpse of the internal organs, as well as more space to work. The laparoscope is inserted through the tube and images of the internal structures are transmitted to the TV monitor.
  • Surgical instruments can then be inserted via further small cuts that can be made, depending on what the surgeon encounters and what procedures they need to perform.
  • Once the procedure is finished, the gas is expelled from the abdomen and the cut is closed using stitches.

Laparoscopy lets your doctor see inside your body in real-time, without open surgery. Your doctor also can collect biopsy specimens during this procedure.

Results from laparoscopy indicating the absence of abdominal bleeding, hernias, and intestinal blockages mean that all your organs are doing well.

Results indicating cysts, tumors, fibroids, abnormal growth in a certain area, hernias indicate abnormalities in your abdomen and your general surgeon may ask you for further procedures.

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