Open, Laparoscopic and Robotic Surgery: What To Know
General Health & Wellness Cancer Orthopedics
April 30, 2024
In the past, having surgery meant you were facing large incisions and long recovery times. But advancements in surgical techniques have helped surgeons see and fix things inside of your body without the need for invasive approaches.
Most patients and physicians would agree that minimally invasive surgery is preferred over traditional open surgery techniques. In a traditional open surgery approach, your surgeon uses a large incision to perform the surgery. That incision must be large enough for the surgeon’s hands and instruments to fit inside the body. Traditional surgery allows the surgeon to touch the organ protrusions during the procedure.
In minimally invasive surgery, doctors use a variety of techniques and methods to operate with less overall trauma to the body. Continuous innovations in minimally invasive surgery have made it beneficial for people with a wide range of conditions.
What Is Minimally Invasive Surgery?
Minimally invasive surgery refers to any surgical procedure that is performed through tiny incisions, as compared to the larger incisions common in traditional surgery. The two most common types of minimally invasive surgery include laparoscopic surgery and robotic surgery. Sometimes surgical patients at Franciscan Health have the choice between two minimally invasive surgery techniques: robotic surgery and laparoscopic surgery. Only you and your Franciscan Health surgeon can decide which surgery is right for you.
Laparoscopic surgery
In laparoscopic surgery, your surgeon makes several small incisions into which he or she inserts small surgical tools and a camera. The camera, called a laparoscope that magnifies and transmits images to a video screen, allows your surgeon to see inside your body to perform the surgery.
Benefits of laparoscopic surgery compared to open surgery include:
- Less scarring
- Smaller scars
- Quicker recovery time
Robotic surgery
With the minimally-invasive da Vinci Surgical System, the skills and soft touch of a surgeon are combined with the precision of a robot. The da Vinci Surgical System is controlled by your Franciscan Health surgeon’s own hand movements. It provides a three-dimensional, high definition, magnified view and translates the surgeon’s hand movements into small and precise movements that can bend and rotate similar to the human hand. The result is enhanced vision, precision and control.
"The robot actually gives the operator three arms to work with all at once, and the operator also controls the camera," explained Jason Fitzgerald, MD, a thoracic and cardiothoracic surgery with Franciscan Health Crown Point. "The instruments that are inside the patient, actually articulate just like a wrist and hands. So, it really is very intuitive to learn and it gives the operator a really enhanced ability to perform different maneuvers inside the patient. So, I really see the robot as sort of the evolution of thoracoscopic surgery past just a two dimensional camera and, and instruments."Though called “robotic” surgery, the da Vinci System cannot act on its own. All surgical procedures are performed entirely by your Franciscan Health surgeon.
The da Vinci System has been used successfully worldwide in approximately 3 million procedures to date.
Benefits of da Vinci robotic surgery include:
- Smaller scars
- Less pain
- Shorter hospital stay, same day discharge
- In a few weeks, you can resume normal activities.
Can My Surgery Be Minimally Invasive?
Many types of surgeries can be performed through minimally invasive techniques, including:
- Adrenalectomy (removal of adrenal glands)
- Acid Reflux Surgery / GERD
- Colon and Rectal Surgery
- Endometriosis surgery
- Gallbladder surgery
- Gastric Bypass
- Hernia Repair
- Hysterectomy (partial or full removal of the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes)
- Myomectomy (removal of uterine fibroids)
- Oophorectomy (removal or ovaries)
- Orthopedic Surgery
- Ovarian cystectomy (removal of an ovarian cyst)
- Prostatectomy (removal of the prostate)
- Pyeloplasty (removal of the renal pelvis, a part of the kidney)
- Sacrocolpopexy (used to treat pelvic organ prolapse)
- Septal Myectomy Surgery (used to reduce a thickening of the heart wall)
- Splenectomy (removal of the spleen)
- Thoracic Surgery
- Urologic surgery
When Might I Need An Open Surgery?
Not every patient is a candidate for minimally invasive surgery and therefore some individuals will require traditional open surgery. While minimally-invasive procedures are typically preferred over traditional open surgery, certain complications can make open surgery a better choice. For example, large hernias can be more difficult to repair, which might make an open procedure a better option.
Work with your Franciscan Health surgeon to determine which type of procedure is best for you.
