Minimally invasive surgery allows the surgeon to see inside the body with a small camera and manipulate the intra-abdominal organs with small surgical instruments by replacing large abdominal incisions with smaller ones (and in some cases, without any incision at all). Minimally invasive surgical techniques provide a safe and effective alternative to conventional open surgery by avoiding a large abdominal incision. With these surgical methods, patients benefit from many advantages such as:
• Smaller incisions
• Reduced blood loss
• Less pain
• Shorter hospital stay
• Faster recovery and return to daily activities
• Reduced scar formation
• Fewer infections and other complications
In the presence of gynecological surgeons who are trained and experienced in minimally invasive surgical techniques, the use of these surgical techniques whenever possible provides patients with many advantages.
With minimally invasive surgical techniques, treatment can be performed for many gynecological pathologies such as:
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus)
• Myomectomy (removal of fibroids)
• Heavy menstrual bleeding and painful periods
• Thickening of the uterine wall
• Ovarian cysts
• Endometriosis
• Chocolate cysts
• Investigation of infertile patients
• Reopening of previously tied tubes
• Pelvic infection
• Uterine prolapse
• Urinary incontinence
• Pelvic pain
• Postmenopausal bleeding
• Polyps inside the uterus
• Correction of some congenital uterine shape abnormalities
• Gynecological cancers
There are several types of minimally invasive gynecological surgical procedures that can be performed.
• Laparoscopic surgery involves the use of 1-4 small incisions on the abdomen through which a thin, lighted tube with a camera at the end, known as a “laparoscope,” and surgical instruments are inserted through an entry “port” called a trocar. The camera and small surgical instruments are placed into the abdomen through these access ports. In laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon views the inside of the abdomen on a video screen in the operating room while simultaneously manipulating the surgical instruments from outside the abdomen.
• Hysteroscopic surgery is a way of looking inside the uterus through the vagina without making any incision in the body. The surgeon visualizes the inside of the uterus by passing a small camera and light through the vagina and cervix. Depending on the type of surgery performed, other instruments may also be passed through the cervix together with the camera.
• Robotic surgery was approved in 2005 for the surgical treatment of gynecological diseases and since then has become an alternative minimally invasive surgical option for patients who are not suitable for vaginal and laparoscopic surgery. In robotic surgery, the surgeon uses a robotic console that provides an enlarged, high-resolution three-dimensional view of the surgical field and controls arms with miniature instruments to perform laparoscopy.
• Vaginal surgery can be considered the most minimally invasive approach to major gynecological surgery. It has all the recovery advantages associated with laparoscopy and robotic surgery, and at the same time the operation is performed without making any abdominal incision.
• Single-port surgery (laparoscopy performed through a single incision) is a laparoscopic surgery performed by making a slightly larger incision in the navel compared to classical laparoscopic surgery. The surgery is carried out by placing a device in the navel that allows the passage of the laparoscopic camera and miniature surgical instruments.
• V-NOTES (laparoscopy performed through the vaginal route) is a minimally invasive surgical technique in which laparoscopic surgery is performed by entering the abdomen through vaginal incisions without making any abdominal incision. With this technique, which has especially started to develop in recent years, and with the advancement of techniques and instruments, major gynecological surgeries have gradually started to be performed.