Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009 - (Page 18)

small wonders a revolution in technique and technology has made major surgery possible through tiny, noninvasive portals, drastically reducing recovery times. just wait until you glimpse what the future holds Consider the changes in computing in recent decades, when microchips have grown ever more powerful while also shrinking, and you’ll get a head-spinning reminder of the power of technology to make things simultaneously smaller and more sophisticated. As it happens, it’s a trend that also has been transforming the world of surgery over the past 20 years. Conventional operations use an open incision to give surgeons direct access to see and operate on a specific area of the body. But small, specialized tools make it increasingly possible to do surgery through tiny openings in the body—and more advances may be in store. working. In minimally invasive procedures, by contrast, endoscopes perform this function. Endoscopes are fiber-optic tubes that send light into the body and transmit images back to the surgeon. These tiny tools are called—get ready for a little jargon—thoracoscopes when used in the chest, and laparoscopes when used in the abdomen. So, when minimally invasive surgery is done in the abdomen, it is called laparoscopic surgery. In laparoscopic surgery, the body cavity is expanded with a harmless gas, such as carbon dioxide, to create a working space. Then small incisions allow the laparoscope and specially designed surgical tools to enter the body. “Just about every abdominal procedure that’s done is now offered with a minimally invasive approach,” says Bruce Schirmer, M.D., editorial board member and past editor-in-chief of the Journal of Laparoendoscopic and Advanced Surgical Techniques. But that doesn’t mean every surgeon feels comfortable with the technique. “As time passes, more people are trained to do minimally invasive surgery,” Schirmer says. “But many surgeons are still more comfortable doing open surgery.” surgery with subtlety The goal of minimally invasive surgery is to access the surgical site with negligible damage to the skin, muscles and other surrounding tissue. “A lot of the side effects of surgery are due to the overall trauma to tissues, and not the actual surgical procedure,” says Pier Giulianotti, M.D., past president of the Minimally Invasive Robotic Association. One purpose of the traditional open incision is to let surgeons see the area where they are 18 vim & vigor · su mme r 2 009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009
Healthy Steps
Nurturing Health
Contents
Finally... Relief from Pain
Helping Hearts
Take Action
Check Your Tech
Small Wonders
Positively Healthy
On the Cover
Culinary Cures
In a Heartbeat
Make it Last
Safe Harbor
5 Million Lives
Under the Cyberknife
Around the Region
Ask the Experts
Community Connections

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2009

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