What To Know About Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery

By Margaret Bailey


Approaches to surgical operation have changed and evolved widely as a result of technological advancements. The abbreviation SILS is often used for single incision laparoscopic surgery, which is also referred to by man other names. Those other names include single-port access surgery (SPA), Single-port laparoscopy (SPL), and natural-orifice trannsumbilical surgery. Other terms used are one-port umbilical surgery (OPUS), single-port incision-less conventional equipment-using surgery, laparro-endoscopic singular-site surgery (LESS), and single-access endoscopic surgery (SAES).

SILS as a technique under laparoscopic surgery is still a relatively new idea with a rather short history. It falls under minimally invasive techniques of surgical operations because of its use of one incision point. In many patients, the navel serves as the entry point. Small scars are formed from the process. The small size of the scar is among the reasons for high preference of the method by patients and surgeons.

Entry points are either 11mm or 22 mm incisions. One incision is utilized to minimize scarring and pain felt during and after the process. The use of one incision is opposed to the traditional laparoscopic procedure that uses multiple entry points. There are some of the most highly qualified specialists in SILS in New York. Therefore, it is quite advisable to consider visiting the city when in search of specialists in this process.

Specialized surgical instruments in use by SILS fall into two wide categories. These wide categories are access ports instruments and hand instruments. Some of the access ports instruments are TriPort15, the Uni-X, SILS gadgets, TriPort+, GelPOINT system, and QuadPort+. The devices are designed and made by different companies.

Conversely, there are three key configurations of hand instruments in use. They include articulating, pre-bent rigid, and standard configurations. It has taken over the past thirty years to develop standard hand tools. They are made with rigid design. The SPL reduced triangulation instrument problem was solved by the development of articulation hand instruments.

Surgeons usually have to choose whether to utilize articulating or standard instruments and that decision is often influenced by a few factors. Some of the factors include, access port used, surgical skills of the surgeon, and cost. In terms of cost, articulating instruments are considerably more expensive than standard instruments. The use of specialized devices makes this surgical procedure more effective and safer.

The awareness of SILS among surgical practitioners is at a high level. Despite that fact, the application of SILS is restricted to a small number of surgeons. This is because it is complex, uses specialized instruments, and the space of access is limited. It takes a high level of training and skills to be able to perform the process. That plus many other factors have limited the number of people who engage in the process and it has also promoted a negative outlook from the public.

A wide variety of surgeries makes use of SILS. Common examples comprise of sleeve gastrectomy, colectomy, adjustable gastric banding, appendectomy, nephrectomy, sacrocolpopexy, and hysterectomy among others. In European nations and the US, standard instruments are in wide usage when compared to specialized ones used in many other countries out of these two regions.




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