Facts Relating To Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery

By Edward Thomas


Surgery is one of the fields in medicine that continues to evolve very rapidly. The advances that have been made in the field have made it possible to perform major operations with very few complications. Apart from restoring of function in diseased organs, many patients care about the cosmetic appearance of their skin as much as they want to function normally again. This is the main reason as to why minimally invasive techniques such as single incision laparoscopic surgery are replacing open surgeries in New York city.

Laparoscopic operations have traditionally required three entry ports made in the anterior abdominal wall to facilitate the entry of the laparoscope and the instruments. For single incision surgery, only one of these ports is required for both the laparoscope and the instruments. For this reason, the operation is also known as single port access surgery (SPA) or single port Laparoscopy (SPL).

This operating technique is used for many different conditions. These include, among others, gall bladder removal, appendectomy, hernia repair, pelvic operations such as the removal of the ovary and the uterus. This list is set to increase even further as many surgeons make the switch to the new approach.

There are a number of advantages that are associated with this procedure. One of them is the fact that recovery is faster and many patients can resume their routine duties in a few days. It is also cosmetically superior to the other methods due to the fact that only one incision is used. The main disadvantage is that it is a little more expensive than the other methods due to the high level of specialization needed.

It is important to mention that using the technique is a lot more cumbersome than the traditional methods. Using the same opening for all the instruments may not be that easy for surgeons who are not adequately experienced. This is because instrument crowding obscures the view and the distance from the incision site to the target site is often longer. As a result, the risk of intraoperative injury is higher than in other methods without proper training.

The technique is a bit difficult to execute in persons that are very obese. The same challenges may be encountered in persons who have an organ that is massively enlarged or those that have undergone other abdominal surgeries in the past. At times, it is not possible to complete the operation using the single incision. Whenever that happens more ports are created or a conventional (longer) incision made.

Just as is the case with any surgical operation, risks exist. Bleeding and infections are the most common but their incidence is a lot lower than what is seen with other techniques. Incisional hernias, a common complications of open operations, is a very rare occurrence.

This surgical technique has a wide range of applications. It is set to be the main technique in the management of pediatric and gynecological surgical problems. Many training institutions have now incorporated the practice into their curricula and plan to retrain specialist surgeons and residents.




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