what is Minimally Invasive Surgery

Surgery is scary. It is. And with it comes a host of other issues, including longer hospital stays, painful recovery, and the ever-present possibility of infection. As if being sick wasn’t enough, right? Well, thanks to the advance of modern medicine, heavy, invasive surgeries don’t have to be your only option anymore.

If you are suffering from a noncancerous gynecologic condition like menorrhagia (heavy menstrual periods), metrorrhagia (irregular menstrual periods), pelvic pain, or ovarian cysts, then a gynecologist that has been trained in minimally invasive surgery would be able to treat and heal you without having to resort to painful surgical procedures that require long recovery periods before you are feeling like your old self again.

What Is Minimally Invasive Surgery?

As the name suggests, minimally invasive surgery is a medical procedure that involves as few incisions as possible. It’s generally separated into 2 different types of treatment plans that work for different illnesses.

Hysteroscopic surgery may be used as a diagnostic tool to determine the nature of a problem or as a way to remove polyps or fibrous tissue. It can even be used to stop bleeding. This type of surgery is so simple that it’s entirely possible for you to never see the inside of an operating theatre. At most, you’ll see an outpatient room if the procedure is too complex for your doctor to perform in their office.

Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery involves a small incision made in your abdomen (sometimes as small as half an inch in length) and a camera inserted into the cut so that your surgeon can identify any difficult to see problems, to check the condition of the pelvic floor, to confirm the presence of ovarian cancer or to treat ectopic pregnancy. This procedure is designed to be the least invasive it can be, and it takes about a week for patients to recover completely afterwards. 

Both of these surgery types are quickly recovered from, more considerate of a patient’s budget, and take less time to perform while still giving high-quality results.

For more information, contact Dr. L Augustine & Dr. N Parikh, Specialist Obstetricians and Gynecologists at obgyndurban.co.za, or visit your doctor for a referral.