By: Akella Chendrasekhar MD
IntroductIon •
General surgery is a specialty, which focuses on different abdominal contents like the bile ducts, the appendix, the gallbladder, the pancreas, liver, colon, small bowel, stomach, and esophagus. Most times, it involves the thyroid gland, but this mainly depends on the referral patterns. General surgery also deals with different diseases that affect hernias, peripheral vascular surgery, trauma, soft tissue, breast, as well as skin.
Common General Surgery Procedures Trauma surgery Laparoscopic surgery Colorectal surgery Breast surgery Vascular surgery
trauma Surgery •
In many locations, the responsibility for trauma care usually falls under general surgery. There are surgeons who obtain more training to offer critical care. The general surgeons should be in a position to handle all sorts of surgical emergencies. They are often called so as to handle patients who are injured critically or those that are very ill. They are required to perform different procedures so as to stabilize the patients.
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This is a specialty that is new. It mainly deals with techniques for access where cameras, as well as small instruments, are inserted through small incisions. A lot is evolving from the concept such as robotic surgery. Colons, appendices, and gallbladders can actually be removed by application of the technique. Hernias can be repaired using the method. It is possible to perform bariatric surgery in this way and there are many benefits that are associated with this.
Colorectal Surgery • General surgery also deals with lots of minor and major rectal and colon diseases. This includes the inflammatory bowel diseases like Cohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. Others are hemorrhoids, gastrointestinal bleeding, treat cancer, colon cancer, and diverticulitis.
Breast Surgery • Open breast biopsy is a procedure used when your doctor feels a lump. A needledirected biopsy is used when the doctor cannot feel a lump, but there is an abnormality in the mammogram that warrants biopsy. Though the anesthesia is usually local (numbing medicine injected at the site of incision) with intravenous sedation, a general anesthesia can also be used.
Vascular Surgery ďƒ˜ Vascular surgery is also a specialty of general surgery. However, for this one needs to have special training in the area. This area is usually handled by specialists. Most of the times, the general surgeons can actually handle the minor disorders.
• Akella Chendrasekhar MD is a surgery specialist who protects and promote NY'ers health by preventing and reducing the dangers of public health and ensuring access to affordable, high-quality healthcare services.