Gastric Surgery, Bowel Surgery, Hernia Surgery

The abdominal cavity is the largest cavity in the human body, containing numerous vital organs. Abdominal surgery, which brings together all operations performed in the abdomen, confronts a complex challenge: the bodily systems located in this area are difficult to access and to accurately diagnose, and are very close to each other. Any operation performed in the abdomen, therefore, requires great attention and extensive experience on the part of the surgeon performing the procedure.

However, abdominal surgery has undergone incredible advances in recent years, and alongside experience naturally accumulated by physicians and generally in medical science, a host of innovations have been brought into use, making these operations safer and more precise – and of course particularly effective, with high success rates.

Today, abdominal surgery is performed in many instances, whether it be to treat bowel problems, to treat problems connected to the stomach or to treat hernias. The latter are considered to be relatively easy to treat on the one hand, and very common on the other, also in comparison with the remaining branches of surgery.

General information about the field

Abdominal surgery is a surgery that concentrates on several aspects and on several bodily systems located in the abdomen. It is performed with the objective of solving health problems, whether simple or complex, and of treating various diseases connected to the digestive system in its entirety, to the bowel and the stomach in particular, and diseases and phenomena connected to the stomach wall, and more. It also “cooperates” with surgical fields dealing with adjacent systems, such as hepatobiliary surgery (operations of the upper digestive tract), urinary tract surgery, pelvic surgery, etc., etc.

Since the abdomen contains some of the body’s most important organs, which affect the function of the various systems in it, any abdominal operation, even the most simple, will usually be performed in cooperation or in consultation with several specialist physicians. At times, alongside the expert abdominal surgeon, surgeons specializing in other medical fields will also be present in the operating room, in order to provide the patient with the most precise treatment, while seeing the broadest picture.

Procedures performed in the framework of abdominal surgery

Abdominal surgery treats cases such as:

• Inguinal hernia
• Umbilical hernia
• Diaphragmatic hernia
• Incarcerated hernia (‘entrapment’ of a part of the bowel in the hernia)
• Damaged abdominal wall
• Bowel obstruction
• Malignant tumors in the bowel
• Tumors and various abdominal organs
• Polyps in the bowel
• Stomach ulcers
• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn, ulcerative colitis)
• Stomach reduction surgery, gastric bypass surgery or gastrectomy.

Today, in the framework of abdominal surgery, very complex surgery is also performed that ‘reorganizes’ the digestive tract – such as bariatric surgery, which has become a field of specialization in its own right some time ago, and operations to excise parts of the bowel. These operations are considered to be particularly complex, because the ‘re-attachment’ of organs in the digestive tract necessitates great care and maximal precision, to ensure proper function of the system also in its new state.

It should be noted that in many operations involving the digestive tract and the abdomen itself, the implications on the body can be long term (stabilization after bariatric surgery, for example, can take a year or more) and very significant.

Introduction of the minimally invasive approach to the field of abdominal surgery

In recent years, more and more operations, in all fields of specialization of modern medicine, are being performed by the minimally invasive approach, which enables the entire operation to be performed without making a large surgical incision (which is also called open surgery). This arises from an outlook that considers not only the efficacy of the operation and its benefit but also the patient recovery process, rendering it easier.

Minimally invasive surgery is performed through a few especially small incisions, just a few centimeters wide, ensuring easier recovery and reduced risks. Since abdominal surgery had traditionally been considered to require and was usually accompanied by a long and difficult recovery process, this is definitely a favorable development.

Currently, it is not infrequent for abdominal surgery to be performed by the minimally invasive approach – laparoscopic operations during which no more than five tiny incisions are made in the abdominal wall, close to the area to be treated, through which the entire operation is, in effect, performed. Even complex operations, such as small bowel resection operations or operations to treats Crohn’s disease patients, are not infrequently performed today by this approach, and recently also using the ‘da Vinci robot’ – a novel system that makes laparoscopic surgery in particular and minimally invasive surgery in general even more precise and effective.