Surgeon dispels myths about minimally invasive surgery

There is an opinion that surgical interventions without deep incisions are less effective. This and other myths related to minimally invasive surgeries were dispelled by Alexey Zhao, MD, professor and head of the surgical clinic of the European Medical Center (EMC), told Izvestia on February 20. The expert spoke about several myths.

"The statement [that minimally invasive surgeries are less effective than open surgeries] is fundamentally wrong. The fact is that there is a different format of surgery for each surgical intervention. In other words, minimally invasive surgeries are only one option. But if there are indications for their performance, there is no doubt about their effectiveness," the expert explained.

According to him, minimally invasive surgeries allow to magnify the image 20 times under the control of a laparoscope or robot, which is beyond the power of the human eye, that is, the surgeon can perform all necessary manipulations with higher precision.

"In addition, numerous worldwide comparative studies have proven the high efficiency of laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgeries for various diseases," the doctor added.

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In addition, some people are convinced that minimally invasive surgeries are always more expensive than traditional surgeries.

Zhao noted that sometimes complex equipment and expensive consumables are used during a particular minimally invasive surgery and this cannot help but affect the cost of surgery.

"But, on the other hand, after such surgery, the patient will be discharged earlier due to rapid rehabilitation. That is, taking into account the cost of postoperative hospitalization, the duration of rehabilitation and the likelihood of complications, minimally invasive surgery will be much cheaper than traditional open intervention. In addition, this applies to both public and private medical institutions," said the professor.

In addition, some patients think that with such processes, surgeons do not see the area to be operated on as well, and therefore may cause harm during surgery.

"In fact, in minimally invasive surgeries under video laparoscopy or 3D robotic surgeries, doctors can see the surgical site much better than with the normal eye," Zhao emphasized.

He drew attention to the fact that in open surgeries, the surgeon has to wear glasses with special magnification, which can be uncomfortable. According to him, visualization in robotic or laparoscopic minimally invasive surgeries allows for much more precise surgery.

Another myth is that recovery from minimally invasive surgeries is just as long as from open surgeries, so there's no need to take risks.

"In fact, initially minimally invasive operations were introduced into medical practice just to reduce the rehabilitation period: incisions of a few centimeters allow the patient to get on his feet already on the day of intervention or tomorrow. And minimally invasive surgeries are also associated with fewer complications," said the professor.

The expert emphasized that it is impossible to compare different types of operations, but other things being equal, minimally invasive interventions show better results in the short and long term.

Among the misconceptions is also the belief that if the enhanced visualization equipment breaks down during surgery, the patient will be left disabled.

"Another fear of minimally invasive surgeries is related to the high-tech equipment used during these interventions. But firstly, there are always extra backup laparoscopic racks in the operating room and there is always an engineer on site. And secondly, each of the surgeons who perform minimally invasive interventions can also perform open surgery if something goes wrong," Zhao noted.

He added that doctors always warn patients that under certain conditions minimally invasive surgery can be replaced by open surgery.

Earlier, on January 21, a doctor-otolaryngologist of the medical company "SberZdorovye" told "Izvestia" that acute pain in the throat can be a sign of pharyngeal abscesses - a condition in which a purulent cavity is formed near the tonsils, on the sides of the pharynx or behind its mucous membrane, the expert specified. Such abscesses can occur, for example, as a complication of a bacterial infection of the throat.