General Surgery
Minimally Invasive Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgery Options
General surgery focuses on the abdominal area and includes appendix removal, hernias, gallbladder surgeries, stomach issues and intestinal issues.
General surgeons are highly skilled and certified in this specialty. Christiana Institute of Advanced Surgery (CHRIAS) surgeons are some of the top professionals in the state of Delaware with years of extensive experience and board certifications in their specialty. When you choose CHRIAS for surgery, you’re choosing the best surgeons in Delaware.
At CHRIAS, general surgery is usually performed laparoscopically (using minimally invasive techniques), or most recently, robotically. Laparoscopic surgery involves making several small incisions, approximately 5 mm to l.5 cm in size, rather than one large incision. Long, thin surgical instruments are used and a narrow video camera is inserted through one of the small incisions to view the operative site on a nearby video monitor. Laparoscopic approach to surgery results in minimal skin cutting, rapid healing, faster recovery, and less postoperative pain than the traditional surgery. However, it is still major surgery and requires general anesthesia.
Often called robotically-assisted surgery or computer-assisted surgery, Robotic surgery was designed to help surgeons perform procedures more efficiently. Robotic surgery provides the surgeon with improved control over surgical instruments and more visibility over the surgical location. Benefits like smaller incision sites, faster patient recovery, shorter hospital stays, and reduced pain contributed to CHRIAS utilizing this advanced technology. During a procedure, our surgeons utilize one of two techniques; telemanipulation, which allows the surgeon to guide the robotic arm with his or her own movement, or computer-controlled surgery, which allows the surgeon to perform the surgery through a computer.
Sometimes surgeons may have to revert to open surgery. The likelihood of this depends on the history of prior abdominal surgery, inability to visualize organs or bleeding problems during the operation. The decision to perform the open procedure may be made by your surgeon either before or during the actual operation. When the surgeon feels that it is safest to convert the laparoscopic procedure to an open one, this is not a complication, but rather sound surgical judgment strictly based on patient safety.
