Laparoscopic Versus Robotic Surgery!

No one likes to have large incisions on their body for any kind of surgery, as they would leave scars. Apart from scars, there is a lot of pain involved in open surgeries and you need to stay for a really long time in the hospital when you opt for open surgeries. So, nowadays, both patients and doctors are opting for the minimally invasive surgeries over the open surgeries.

You have two options when you are opting for minimally invasive surgeries and they are:

1. Laparoscopic
2. Robotic

It sometimes gets really tough for patients to make a decision on which is the right surgery from these two options. Not all surgeries can be done using these technologies. So, in that case, the only option will be chosen and in other cases, your doctor will help you choose the best based on other factors such as time, cost and post-surgery care.

What is Laparoscopic Surgery?
When compared to the normal open surgery, your doctor makes only small incisions in the area of surgery such as your belly button. Usually, three incisions are made to insert the tubes that hold the equipment and the camera. The camera will show images on the screen and with the help of these images, the doctor can perform the surgery. The scars are less noticeable and the pain is also very less.

What is Robotic Surgery?
Robotic surgery is very similar to laparoscopic surgery. Small incisions are made to insert the camera and equipment inside the abdominal area and it is inflated using carbon dioxide gas. But the main difference is that the doctor does not sit close to the patient to operate the equipment manually with their hands. The doctor does not hold any equipment. Only a nurse stands close to the patient, while the doctor sits in front of his computer and operates the equipment with the help of hand controls available on the computer. That means, it instructs the robot on what to do. The images in robotic surgery are much more magnified than the laparoscopic images and they are of high clarity. The image is three-dimensional ensuring image clarity for the doctor.

Advantages of Robotic Surgery over Laparoscopic surgery:

1. Complete three-dimensional view of images, allows the doctor to perform the surgery with great precision.
2. A very short period of recovery.
3. In robotic surgery, the doctor has a better control over the than laparoscopic surgery.
4. The movement required to perform the surgery can also be controlled very well. Smaller movements are possible with robotic control than using the manual controls.