Vim & Vigor - Fall 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center - (Page 39)

BY ALLISON THOMAS T here may be more than 7 billion of us, but our world is shrinking. We’re connected in real time across oceans, borders and cultures. We learn about events unfolding around the globe—news that we used to receive hours, days or weeks after the fact—just by glancing at our phones. And as technology makes our world smaller, it’s also minimizing surgical procedures in big and meaningful ways. Here, we take a look at the past, the present and the not-too-distant future of the next generation of surgery known as minimally invasive procedures. A Big Picture Made Smaller Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) refers to procedures performed through tiny incisions instead of one larger opening, commonly called open surgery. Using an endoscope (a small tube with a camera at the end), surgeons can visualize the area, then diagnose and possibly treat the problem. MIS is often referred to as laparoscopic surgery, but while laparoscopy focuses on the abdomen and pelvis, MIS can be applied in other areas such as the spine, heart and joints. MIS has been around since the late 1980s, says Jay A. Redan, MD, who has been there from the start. The spokesman for the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons recalls the early days of MIS with amazement. “It was very dramatic when we first began,” says Redan, who performed his first minimally invasive procedure in 1989. “You’d take somebody who’d normally be out of the hospital in 10 days and they’d be out in two.” The Future Is Now Although around for only a couple of decades, MIS already has become the standard of care for many procedures, says Shawn Tsuda, MD, a spokesman for the American College of Surgeons. “It really blew up in the 1990s, and since then, the number of open procedures that this technique has been applied to has expanded tremendously.” Now MIS techniques are being used in everything from colon, weight loss and acid reflux surgery to spine, gynecologic and heart procedures. “Cardiac procedures themselves have become a case study for MIS because most cardiac vessel diseases are treated with angiography—stents and angioplasty—rather than traditional cardiac bypass surgery now,” Tsuda says. “There are very few areas that won’t be touched by minimally invasive surgery.” FALL 201 3 39

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center
Contents
Phil’s Feature
Kind and Generous
How Can We Help?
Step It Up
Your Mightiest Muscle
Well, Well, Well
Are You Doing More Harm Than Good?
Is Your Shut-Eye Serving You Well?
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge
Anatomy of an ER Visit
Next-Gen Surgery
Attack from Within
Virtual Health
PrimeTime Health
Clear Passage
New Life with New Knees
Out of the White Coat
Transforming Healthcare

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2013 - Gwinnett Medical Center

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