Medical history has been witnessing tremendous growth and innovation in the past few decades. The introduction of minimally invasive surgeries has reduced the hassle and fear of open surgeries for surgeons and patients respectively. It is only a matter of time when the world hopes to find more and more surgical solutions that reduce operating time and promises complete efficiency.
Talking about the latest technology in medical history, one cannot forget the use of the two most important minimally invasive surgical processes, namely, laparoscopy and robotics.
Let us take a quick look at each of the two types of minimally invasive surgical techniques and also find out which of the two is more in demand these days.
Laparoscopic Surgery
Traditionally used in gynecological and gall bladder related problems, laparoscopic surgery has come a long way from being used in operations with definite and comparatively easy anatomical challenges today. The procedure is a great alternative to open surgery as it uses only 0.5 to 1 centimeter long incisions in the abdominal area to be operated, as against a long incision.
The efficiency of the operation is the same as open surgery as the internal organs are visualized on a high-definition monitor in the theater which displays images captured by the laparoscope inserted through the trochar in one of the incisions.
As mentioned earlier, laparoscopy procedure is being used for complex surgeries targeting intestinal, naso-pharyngeal and colo-rectal operations. When a comparison is drawn with open surgery, laparoscopic surgery has a few advantages like reduced scarring on patient body, less recovery period, and less pain.
Robotic Surgery
Also known as the da Vinci system robotic surgery, the use of robotic equipment in conducting laparoscopic procedures and multiple surgical tasks has become a raging topic of debate, research and innovation in medical science today. We cannot ignore the fact that the efficiency offered by laparoscopy gets doubled with the speed and accuracy of robotics surgery.
The da Vinci robotic surgery uses an automated da Vinci robot that consists of a patient cart, a surgeon's console, a three-dimensional visual system and a massive set of endowrist instruments that are used to conduct the final operation. Controlled by the surgeon at the console, the patient cart uses the robotic arms that translate the surgeon's inputs into real-time action by manipulating the laparoscopic instruments and camera to perform the exact actions in the patient's body as directed by the surgeon.
As a result, the efficiency of the process is very high, while the time taken is even less than the traditional, manually conducted laparoscopic procedure adding greatly to the advantages of robotic surgery .
As in the case of all minimally invasive surgeries, both laparoscopy and robotic surgery may have complications that occur during the surgery due to the surgeon's mistake. In such cases, the rectification is required to be completed using an open surgery.
However, barring the risk factor, there is no other reason to worry in case of both the above mentioned minimally invasive processes. As seen presently, laparoscopic techniques are more popular in hospitals than robotic surgeries, owing to the cost effectiveness of the instruments used in the former.
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