Understanding Surgical Treatments: Types, Risks, and Innovations

Surgical Treatment: An Overview

The term surgical treatment, or surgery, is very broad. It can be classified into major surgery and minor surgery:

• Major surgery involves significant procedures, such as an appendectomy or cardiac intervention. Due to its importance and complexity, it can lead to serious post-operative complications. Patients often need to remain in the hospital for some time to be monitored and treated by medical personnel.
• Minor surgery includes simpler, short-duration interventions performed on superficial and accessible tissues, for example, wart removal. Generally, the number of complications is low.

Today, thanks to significant progress in surgery, some surgical procedures that traditionally required hospitalization can now be performed on an outpatient basis. That is, the patient goes to the hospital, undergoes the procedure, and returns home a few hours after surgery. This is known as major ambulatory surgery. An excellent example is cataract surgery, which previously required a period of hospital convalescence but now allows patients to return home almost immediately after the operation.

For a patient to undergo surgery, it is necessary to administer a drug (anesthetic) to eliminate sensitivity to pain. This procedure is called anesthesia.

Surgical Risks and Safety

All surgical procedures carry inherent risks. Some risks are related to the patient's own health condition, while others are associated with the surgical procedure and anesthesia. Fortunately, these risks are minimal today due to several advancements:

• Surgical techniques and devices have increasingly improved due to advances in science and technology.
• Surgeons are highly trained professionals.
• Anesthesia has also become safer. Operations involve an anesthesiologist, a doctor specializing in anesthesia, and the drugs used are continually becoming safer.

When is Surgery Performed?

Certain conditions require immediate surgery; delaying it would pose a significant risk of complications. In such cases, we speak of emergency surgery. Examples include:

• Acute appendicitis
• Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Intestinal obstruction
• And similar urgent conditions.

In all other cases, it is best to schedule surgery. This allows medical professionals to assess the patient's general situation and optimize their health so they undergo surgery in the best possible condition. This is called elective surgery. An example is:

• Tonsillectomy (removal of the tonsils)

Innovations in Surgical Procedures

Traditionally, surgery has been characterized as an aggressive method, often requiring access to internal organs through incisions or openings that must then heal. However, some of the new surgical procedures aim to reduce the aggressiveness of the surgery, making the intervention less risky and allowing the patient to recover more quickly. This applies to techniques such as:

• Endoscopic surgery
• Angioplasty

In recent times, techniques have also been developed that allow very complex operations to cure patients who for years were not considered treatable. This is notably the case with transplant surgery. Other techniques leverage the latest advancements in information technology, such as robotic surgery.