Open Surgery

What is Open Surgery?

Open surgery is considered to be a conventional form of surgery since it's the most established. An open surgery procedure involves making wide/long incisions to be able to view and examine a particular organ or vessel and help to diagnose or treat a condition related to that organ or vessel.

Why is Open Surgery Necessary?

Over the past few years, Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) has become the predominant surgery for which people opt, because it uses smaller incisions and has shorter healing periods.

However, in some instances, minimally invasive techniques may not be adequate, so open surgery is required.

Cases in which Open Surgery is required:

• If a patient has adhesions or scars from prior procedures
• If tumours or growths are located in more compromising places
• If the growth or tumour is too significant for MIS techniques to remove or treat them properly.

Types of Open Surgery Procedures

Laparotomy

Laparotomy is a surgical procedure in which a large incision in the abdominal region is made to open the abdomen so that Dr Makhoba can examine, diagnose and treat conditions related to the abdomen. Laparotomies and Laparoscopies are performed for the same reason. However, a laparoscopy is considered a minimally invasive procedure, making it the favourable procedure.

Thoracotomy

A thoracotomy is a procedure in which an incision in the chest wall is made to open the chest cavity in order to gain access to the heart, lungs, oesophagus or diaphragm. There are many reasons that thoracotomies are performed, but the most common reason for thoracotomies is for the treatment of lung cancer.