Since the 1990s the medical sector of India has witnessed many evolutions (which are always required and important and gives a positive result) including surgery, transplantation of body organs and there are several others in the list. Dating back to late 18th- century surgery in India was very difficult and the success stories were also very rare to hear but the early 19th century transformed the medical condition of the country as the era introduced Minimal Access Surgery. Minimal access is an innovation in the medical field which has helped efficiently in the medical field and so as to the doctors. Earlier the surgeries were time-consuming and used to end up with long, visible stretch marks on the operated part of the body but with the initiation of minimal access surgery the above-mentioned issues have been resolved. Now after going through a minimal access surgery, the surgeon makes a small cut inside the body to get the injured part operated so the marks are small very small and not much visible. MAS was limited to Gynaecology operations only for some years in the starting but then got expanded up to every surgery. All the discoveries and innovation have some pros and cons the same happens with the MAS too.
The branches of minimal access surgery are arthroscopy, laparoscopy, and thoracoscopy based on the location where the instrument is getting placed.
Laparoscopy- the minimally invasive diagnosis which diagnoses the problem occurring in the abdomen and in this surgery the telescope is used to operate on the abdomen.
Thoracoscopy- In this surgery, a thin tube is placed inside the chest by making a small incision. The tube inspects the lungs, the area between the lungs and the membrane covering the lungs area and the chest cavity.
Arthroscopy- a surgical procedure used to treat the ailments of joints and is used by the orthopedic surgeons. The surgeon makes a small incision inside the skin and checks the deformities of the bones by giving an enlarged view of the joints.
Advantages of MAS-
- Enlarged view- It gives a wide and enlarged view of the body which is better than open surgery.
- Life Span- the minimal access surgery increases the life span of the patients more than the patients opt for open surgery.
- Less use of Adhesions- for the open surgery a patient requires more use of adhesions but as in MAS, the surgeon makes a small cut which then reduces the use of adhesions.
- Short Stay in Hospital- MAS reduces the stay time of patients in the hospital as the stay depends upon the surgery and MAS leads to a faster recovery.
- Less pain- the surgery involves less use of narcotic drugs as the surgery is less painful and even the post operation healing is also less painful.
Disadvantages of MAS-
- High Cost- as the surgery includes camera, telescope and some other developed equipment so the cost of this surgery is always high. The surgery was initially not available in all the hospitals so this is also the reason for the high cost of MAS.
- Initially, it was very difficult to control the bleeding during the surgery because of the dearth of instruments controlling electrocautery but the problem got resolved by using ultrasonic and bipolar technologies.
- Lesser training had been provided to the surgeons about the proper location of the instruments and the cameras accordingly.
There are certain illnesses which can be cured through Minimal Invasive Surgery like Thyroid, hernia, appendix, gall bladder stones etc.
How much time does it take to recover? It usually depends upon the kind of surgery a patient has undergone through. It generally takes four to six weeks for a patient to recover from the ailment. The minimally invasive surgery causes very less pain as compared to the traditional surgery because of the cameras and telescope. They give the enlarged view which causes very less disturbance to the tissue which is unrelated and even the muscles of the body.
Is MAS Safe?
Yes, it is much safer than the traditional surgeries but we cannot say that it is completely safe as it may cause problems related to bleeding, anesthesia, and infection. There are researches going on to limit such problems which are definitely going to help us out to overcome such issues.
