Medical Devices

Open Vs Laparoscopic Surgery: Which is the Best Procedure

Introduction: Open v/s laparoscopic surgery

Are you scheduled to go under the knife soon? One of the crucial aspects of preparing for a surgery is to understand the options available to you.

While a medical practitioner is undoubtedly in the best position to decide the kind of surgery for you, it is natural to have questions about your surgery. You may have doubts about the injury from the surgery, pain post operation and even about the procedure itself.

No question is unimportant and therefore, do not hesitate to ask your doctor. A major concern for anyone due for a surgery is ‘how invasive is the surgery?’

Your doctor may have told you about your two surgery options: open and laparoscopic. Read on to understand which of these procedure is suited for you.

What is open surgery?

This is the traditional operation procedure where a large incision is made to repair or replace an organ or tissue in your body. Open surgery is a major procedure where the surgeon will use a scalpel to make an incision that could be as big as 10 inches to gain access to the organ. Open surgery instruments are used to repair the damage in the organs. For example, a surgeon may use open surgery instruments such as surgical staplers to remove an organ, cutting through tissues or even join two structures. Meril Life’s Mirus Linear Stapler is one such instrument that offers adjustable intermediate locking position and can ensure one-hand operation.

Open surgeries are almost imperative in case of transplants as larger incisions are required to extract the damaged organ and replace it with a healthy organ or substitute.

What is laparoscopic surgery?

Laparoscopic surgery is a surgical technique in which access devices (trocars) are inserted into the abdomen through small (less than one centimeter) incisions. Through these trocars, laparosope, long and narrow instruments are inserted. The surgeon uses these instruments to manipulate, cut, and suture/staple tissue.

Laparoscopy is carried out under general anaesthetic, so you won't feel any pain during the procedure.

During laparoscopy, the surgeon makes one or more small incisions in the abdomen. These allow the surgeon to insert the laparoscope, surgical tools, and a tube attached to trocars used to pump gas into the abdomen. This makes it easier for the surgeon to look around and operate.

After the procedure, the gas is let out of your abdomen, the incisions are closed using sutures/skin staplers and a dressing is applied. You can often go home on the same day of your laparoscopy, although you may need to stay in hospital overnight.

Keeping in mind to eliminate human suffering Meril Endo surgery introduced

MIRUS Endoscopic Linear Cutter with TRIO reloads are intended to use in minimally invasive surgical procedures for the transection, resection of tissues and creation of anastomosis in Laparoscopic procedures.

It offers the best in class "B" shape staple formation & cutting with precision between three rows varied height staples in Laparoscopic surgery/ Minimal Invasive surgery which ensures superior hemostasis.

Open v/s laparoscopic surgery

The biggest difference between open vs laparoscopic surgery is the size of the incision. Why is the size of the incision important, you may ask.

The answer is simple: the bigger the incision, the longer it takes to heal. The smaller the incision, the lower is the pain and risk for infection.

Open vs laparoscopic surgery can be understood from the purpose and benefits of each.

Benefits of open surgery: Open surgery is traditional surgery that is ideal for chronic illnesses. For example, a heart or kidney transplant can be done only through open surgery. Since the incisions are large, it gives the surgeon more access to the organs and hence open surgery is cleaner. For the same reason, the risk of infection to other organs is almost nil in open surgery.
Benefits of laparoscopic surgery: The biggest benefit of laparoscopic surgery is that it is minimally invasive and therefore less painful. They heal faster and do not leave big scars too. Because the incisions are small, you are not likely to lose a lot of blood during the procedure. Laparoscopy is also often less expensive than open surgery.

Open v/s laparoscopic surgery, what should I choose?

In most cases, you doctor will give you all the options available to you for your surgery. It is always a good idea to go with the doctor’s recommendation.

What kind of surgery is ideal for you will depend on the purpose of the surgery and the extent of the disease. If the procedure is to diagnose a disease, a laparoscopic surgery will suffice. A laparoscopic surgery can also be an excellent choice for an angioplasty, hysterectomy, appendicitis operation and removing cysts or tumours.

However, if your disease is chronic and has caused significant tissue or muscle damage, an open surgery will help treat the damage better. Open surgery is done for all major organs such as the heart, kidney, brain and even hernia. Open surgery is also preferred if you’ve had a surgery before.

Seek advice from your doctor and family. Decide on a procedure keeping in mind the time you will require to heal and whether you will require surgeries in the future.

Conclusion

A surgery is a major life event that will alter your future for the good. But there are prices to pay for all the good things. Pain is just one of them. So while deciding on what kind of surgery you want, keep in mind that your recovery and healing time depends on it.

Today, most surgeons prefer a laparoscopic surgery as it is more advanced and quick. The healing time, too, is small. It works well for patients as small incisions mean lesser pain and quicker recovery. Laparoscopy surgery is also friendly to the pocket, so you may want to consider that while making your decision. It is a common misconception that laparoscopy surgery is expensive.

Your doctor may advise you for an open surgery if the damage to your organ is severe. For example, a massive heart attack can render a large part of the heart muscles invalid. In such cases, a laparoscopy is not enough to treat all the muscles. Trust your doctor. Do not fret about the costs, especially if you have a health insurance.