No one looks forward to surgery. But sometimes, it’s necessary to treat injury, manage disease, and lower the risk of complications.
Traditional surgical methods, or open surgery, often mean large incisions and long, painful recoveries. These days, advancements in surgical technology mean that surgery is more effective and less invasive than ever before.
As elite surgeons, Rachel Alt, MD, and Brian Prebil, DO, specialize in minimally invasive surgical procedures. They regularly perform laparoscopy and da Vinci® robotic surgery at Center for Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery, located in Peoria, Arizona, to treat a range of common conditions.
If you’ve been told you need surgery, here’s what you need to know about your minimally invasive options.
Types of minimally invasive surgery
Dr. Alt and Dr. Prebil specialize in the latest minimally invasive surgical techniques: laparoscopy and robotic surgery. Both of these methods utilize very small incisions and specialized tools, but there are a few key differences you should know.
Laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopic surgery involves using a slender tool with a tiny camera to view your surgery site without making a large incision.
When performing laparoscopy, our surgeons make a small incision and insert the fiber-optic camera into your body. The camera projects images onto a screen in the operating room. We guide small surgical instruments through one or more incisions and perform the procedure based on what we see on-screen.
Some common laparoscopic procedures are hernia repair, gallbladder removal, and other abdominal surgeries.
Robotic surgery
During robotic surgery, our surgeons perform procedures with the da Vinci® surgical system. Robotic surgery uses very small incisions like laparoscopy, but the difference is that it relies on robotic arms instead of human hands to hold the surgical instruments.
The surgeon views your surgery site on a screen and controls precise robotic arms through the surgical system’s console. The console is located in the operating room, and the surgeon has complete control over the procedure.
Robotic surgery can be used for procedures like hernia repair, appendicitis, colon disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
The benefits of choosing minimally invasive surgery
If you need surgery to treat an existing health condition, a minimally invasive procedure may be a good option for you. Dr. Alt and Dr. Prebil generally recommend minimally invasive surgery, like laparoscopy and robotic surgery, whenever possible.
Both laparoscopic surgery and robotic surgery offer several benefits. These methods are more precise than traditional open surgery, and they cause significantly less trauma to the body.
The benefits of minimally invasive surgery include:
- Less blood loss
- Less trauma to healthy tissues
- Lower risk of infection
- Shorter hospital stay
- Less pain
- Less swelling and bruising
- Faster recovery
- Smaller scars
Minimally invasive methods allow our surgeons to repair and treat common conditions without long recovery times or unnecessary complications. To find out which method of minimally invasive surgery is right for you, schedule a consultation with our team.
Call our Peoria, Arizona, office at 623-227-2581 or send us a message to get started today.
