Minimally Invasive Surgery at Swedish Hospital
Swedish Hospital offers minimally invasive and robotic surgery when appropriate to treat patients for a variety of conditions and injuries. The benefits of minimally invasive surgery are well-proven, including smaller incisions, reduced risk of infections and a shorter recovery period.
For more information and to schedule an appointment with a surgeon, please call
773-293-8878.
Minimally Invasive Surgery
Minimally invasive surgery is a term that refers to a variety of surgical techniques that allow doctors to operate through one smaller or multiple small, keyhole incisions, with less trauma than traditional surgery.
Laparoscopy is a common form of abdominal minimally invasive surgery, but many other techniques can be used for a range of surgeries throughout the body.
What Are the Benefits of Minimally Invasive Surgery
When possible, minimally invasive surgery carries a number of important patient benefits, including:
- Decreased tissue and abdominal wall trauma
- Decreased blood loss
- Decreased rate of transfusions
- Reduced rate of infection
- Reduced need for pain medication
- Shorter length of hospital stay
- Shorter recovery time
- A quicker return to work and normal activities
- Increased ability for surgeons to work in difficult to reach corners of the abdomen
How Long Does It Take to Recover from Minimally Invasive Surgery?
One of the many benefits of minimally invasive surgeries is a reduced recovery time, with many surgeries ranging from just a few days to a few weeks.
- Routine minimally invasive surgeries such as cholecystectomy are outpatient surgeries, and some patients are even able to return to work that same week.
- More complex surgeries also benefit from a reduced recovery time. Many traditional surgeries with postoperative stays of up to 10 days are now often discharged within 2-4 days. For example, the national average for open colon surgery is 9.3 days, while Swedish Hospital’s average length of stay in 2020 for routine MIS robotic colectomies was between 3 and 4 days.
Will I Be Able to Walk After Minimally Invasive Surgery?
Assuming that you were able to walk prior to surgery, you should be back on your feet that same day. Mobility is an important part of recovery.
Outpatient patients walk out of the hospital that same day, and inpatient patients with more complex procedures will be instructed to walk at least four times a day as part of their recovery plan.
Laparoscopic Surgery
Laparoscopy is a common form of minimally invasive surgery which uses 3-4 small incisions, rather than a single large incision (open surgery), to operate within the abdomen. Surgeons insert a small camera (laparoscope) and thin surgical instruments through these small incisions to complete the procedure.
What Surgeries are Done Laparoscopically?
Swedish Hospital offers a variety of laparoscopic surgeries for qualifying patients, including:
- Hiatal/paraesophageal hernia surgery
- Anti-reflux (GERD) surgery
- Colon and rectal surgery
- Gallbladder surgery (cholecystectomy)
- Splenectomy
- Gastric surgery
- Acute care surgery such as perforated gastric ulcer or small bowel obstruction
- Diagnostic laparoscopy
- Placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters and feeding tubes
Is Laparoscopy a Major Surgery?
While any surgical procedure should be taken seriously, laparoscopy does reduce some of the common risk factors of traditional open surgery. As surgeons continue to push the boundaries for what laparoscopic and robotic surgeries can be utilized for, many additional surgeries will be able to be performed with this benefit of reduced risk.
At Swedish Hospital, we have the ability utilize a robotic approach, when appropriate, for many issues such as perforated viscus (any perforation in the gastrointestinal system such as gastric ulcers, diverticulitis and traumatic injury). These are major surgeries which have typically required open surgeries until the last five years.
Does Your Stomach Swell After Laparoscopic Surgery?
It is typical for patients to experience very mild inflammation around the incisions, but your stomach should not become swollen.
Depending on the type of surgery, patients may experience ileus, which is when the gastrointestinal tract is “asleep” or uncoordinated for a period of time. Laparoscopic procedure shortens the duration of ileus, and robotic surgery reduces it further, given the decreased trauma and manipulation of bowel.
Robotic Surgery
Robotic surgery is a form of laparoscopic surgery that allows the surgeon to operate using a bedside console, the DaVinci surgical robot. This allows surgeons to have instruments with elbows and wrists to perform tasks such as suturing, as well as high definition 3D imaging, with depth perception.
During robotic surgery the surgeon is in full control of the robotic instruments from the console at all times. The robot is not performing any tasks or making any decisions on its own.
More about robotic surgery>>
Benefits of Robotic Surgery
- Furthers the ability of laparoscopic surgery to include more extensive and complex surgeries, including acute or emergency surgeries
- Allows surgeons to perform surgery with a technique closer to traditional open surgery, resulting in a reduced learning curve for surgeons
- The robotic camera is more advanced that typical laparoscopes, featuring higher definition and 3D, resulting in better depth perception
- Techniques such as intracorporeal anastomosis during hemicolectomy, in which the surgeon sutures the bowel back together inside of the patient's abdomen, reduces the trauma to the colon. This reduces the time it takes for the bowel to ‘wake up’ and function normally, resulting in faster discharge following surgery.
Contact Us
For more information and to schedule an appointment with a surgeon, please call 773-293-8878.
