What is minimally invasive surgery?

Also known as: robotic surgery, endoscopic surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery is a broad term that applies to a wide range of medical procedures. Essentially, it refers to any surgery where small incisions are made and telescopes and operating instruments are passed into the body, allowing the operation being performed with the surgeon viewing the procedure on a nearby television screen. These surgeries avoid large scars, cause less pain, and disrupt fewer of the body’s organs and tissues.

What is minimally invasive surgery used for?

As technology progresses we are able to apply minimally invasive surgery procedures to an ever-wider number of patients and diseases. We currently apply minimally invasive techniques for:

• Cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder)
• Appendectomy
• Pelvic surgery
• Fundoplication (for gastro-esophageal reflux)
• Pull through procedures in Hirschprung's disease
• Diagnostic laparoscopy for abdominal pain
• Pyloric stenosis
• Pectus excavatum (Nuss procedure)
• Empyema (infected liquid in the chest)
• Pneumothorax (air trapped in the chest)
• Biopsies of thoracic or abdominal organs

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Reviewed by: Cathy Anne Burnweit, MD

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM