It can be alarming when you hear that you need surgery. You imagine weeks off of work, the inability to do your daily chores, and pain and scarring as you recover.
Minimally invasive surgery is a game-changer. It replaces open surgery, which involves large incisions, significant blood loss, and several nights in the hospital.
The surgeons at Capital Women’s Care offer minimally invasive procedures for many gynecological issues that once required open surgery.
They use specialized equipment and, sometimes, robotic technology to guide and perform surgeries. You get an outcome as good, if not better, than you would with open surgery, plus many benefits, like a shorter recovery time and minimal scarring.
If you have a need for minimally invasive surgery, here’s what you should know.
If your minimally invasive procedure requires general anesthesia, you need to fast the night before and temporarily halt any medications that your Capital Women’s Care doctor determines could be contraindicated.
Outpatient means you get to go home the day of the procedure. Once you come out of anesthesia and your vital signs are normalized, your provider sends you home. You need a friend or family member to drive you as you’ll be groggy, disoriented, and possibly too compromised to drive yourself.
You get to recover in the comfort of your own home without the stress and expense of one or more overnight stays in the hospital.
Your surgeon uses a laparoscope — a thin, flexible wand with a lighted camera attached — and tiny instruments to do your surgery. This technology requires very small incisions, which translate to minimal scarring and blood loss.
Because incisions are smaller and less tissue is damaged, minimally invasive surgery tends to be less painful than traditional open surgery. The small incisions heal faster and you’re at less risk of infection or other complications.
Exactly when you can return to daily activities depends on your personal healing and the procedure you had done, but rest assured that you will be back on your feet and living your life relatively soon.
The team at Capital Women’s Care offers minimally invasive procedures for diagnosis and treatment of gynecological conditions.
You may require a diagnostic minimally invasive procedure if ultrasound, colposcopy, or X-ray can’t definitively help the doctors determine the cause of heavy or irregular menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, or infertility.
Your surgeon may perform minimally invasive surgery to remove endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and uterine fibroids or polyps. It can be used to treat certain gynecological cancers, like cervical or ovarian. Hysterectomies are also performed using minimally invasive techniques whenever possible.
Repair of bladder problems and pelvic organ prolapse are often successfully done with minimally invasive surgery.
Of course, in some cases, traditional open surgery is still the best treatment strategy. We work with you to determine the best course of care to optimize your gynecological and reproductive health.
Capital Women’s Care is committed to women’s health. The professional, compassionate team in Silver Spring and Laurel, Maryland, is ready to see you. Contact us by calling or using this website to request an appointment.
