Surgical Techniques

Laparotomy 

Laparatomy is an open surgery of the abdomen to view the organs and tissue inside. An incision will be made in the skin on your abdomen. The organs will be examined for disease. The doctor may take a biopsy. If the problem is something that can be repaired or removed, it will be done at this time. The opening will be closed using staples or stitches. When possible a less invasive, laparoscopic procedure will be performed instead of a laparotomy.

Laparoscopic surgery

Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive surgery (Band-Aid surgery or keyhole surgery) using a few small incisions on the abdomen. These incisions let surgeons insert a thin tube with a camera (a laparoscope) into the body to help them see. Then small tools are used to perform the surgery. This type of surgery is less painful for the patient and results in a quicker recovery. Types of laparoscopic surgery include:

Physician-Assisted Robotic Laparoscopic Surgery

A doctor uses robotic arms to operate through small keyhole incisions in the abdomen. The robotic arms are able to do surgical tasks with an increased range of motion. The special tools translate the doctor’s larger hand movements into smaller ones. This allows delicate work to occur in small spaces.

Physician-assisted robotic surgery is considered for procedures that require precision and do not require open access, especially laparoscopic procedures. Performing surgery in this way may result in:

• Faster recovery
• Shorter hospital stay
• Reduced trauma to the body
• Less blood loss
• Less risk of infection
• Reduced recovery times
• Less scarring

Single-Site®

Single-Site surgery enables surgeons to operate through a small incision in the patient’s belly button to remove the patient’s gallbladder or uterus. Weight loss surgery may also be performed using this technique. The end result is a virtually scar-less surgery.

Firefly™ Fluorescence Imaging (Oncology/GYN)

A type of robotic surgery using fluorescence imaging capability to allow your surgeon to identify vessels and tissue that otherwise couldn’t be seen by the human eye.  A green dye is administered by an anesthesiologist through a peripheral IV line. The dye then binds to plasma proteins in blood. The dye under the robot’s special fluoroscopic camera illuminates a "firefly green" to differentiate between cancerous and healthy tissue, as well as the blood supply to the tumor. Surgeons are able to quickly switch back and forth between Firefly imaging and normal white light. This allows for a more accurate removal of the tumor, as the surgeon can leave the healthy tissue of the organ in place, and potentially lowers the risk of any cancer being left behind.