New techniques that put less stress on the body, minimize scarring, shorten hospital stays and greatly reduce pain.

This coupled with the fact that we have the most experience with these types of procedures in the region is giving more and more people the chance to live better lives.

Minimally invasive surgery has been used for nearly 30 years. But the procedure has become more common and advanced with the development of such tools as ultra-small video cameras and harmonic scalpels, which separate tissue by vibrating at 50,000 cycles per second.

Minimally invasive surgery is often called keyhole surgery.

Not because of the shape of the surgical opening, but the relative size of it.
It can be compared to entering a room through a keyhole instead of a door. The opening in this type of high-tech surgery is as small as a two inch incision, small enough to be covered by a band-aid!

The benefits of minimally invasive surgeries are impressive. Here are some recent statistics:

• In most cases, hospital stays are reduced by 60 percent or more compared to conventional surgery
• The close of most common minimally invasive surgeries can be 30 percent less than "open" surgeries
• Recovery from minimally invasive surgery is faster and there is generally much less discomfort

Risks associated with minimally invasive surgery are lessened, due to:

• Less blood loss
• Lowered chance of infection
• Potential injury to surrounding tissue

Some of the medical situations where minimally invasive surgery can be considered include:

• Breast biopsy
• Colon resection
• Cardiovascular surgery
• Fundoplication
• Gastric bypass
• Gynecological diagnosis and treatment
• Hemorrhoids
• Hernia repair
• Hysterectomy
• Nephrectomy
• Orthopedics

Call Nurse Direct at (607)763-5555 for more information.  For more pictures inside the Ambulatory Surgery Center at Wilson Place, click here.