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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