Learning that you may have a disease like lung cancer is scary. Fortunately, there are surgical options for diagnosis and treatment that are minimally invasive. This means that only tiny incisions are required and recovery is much quicker compared to traditional or open surgery.
Understanding a few different types of minimally invasive procedures and how they help people with lung cancer and other conditions can help you feel less worried about what lies ahead.
Common minimally invasive procedures
A minimally invasive procedure used to diagnose and treat a variety of health problems is endoscopy. During an endoscopy, your doctor inserts an endoscope, a long, thin tube, into your body to get a close-up view of the part being examined. This tube usually has a light and a camera at the end, and your HCP looks at a screen that shows them what the camera sees.
There are many different types of endoscopies, but they all work in the same basic way. A type of endoscope called a laparoscope can be used with surgical instruments in a minimally invasive surgery called laparoscopy to look for problems in your stomach or pelvic area.
During a laparoscopy, the laparoscope is inserted through a small incision in your stomach and displays images on a monitor for your surgeon to view.
Robotic surgery is another minimally invasive procedure. This involves a high-definition (HD) camera that shows a close-up view of the area and a robotic arm with tiny surgical instruments at the end. There’s also a control panel that looks like a video game joystick. The surgeon controls the robotic arm, a type of surgical instrument, to perform the operation.
When are minimally invasive procedures used?
While there will be times when more traditional procedures are necessary, minimally invasive procedures can be used for many different health problems throughout the body – including lung cancer and other health problems that affect the lungs.
For example, medical professionals may perform a type of endoscopy called a bronchoscopy, which uses a tube to look into your lungs and airways. This procedure can determine whether lung cancer is present and how serious it is. Robotic bronchoscopy, performed on systems such as Ion and Monarch, requires a smaller tube and a control panel that allows a healthcare professional to move the tube in a precise manner, reaching parts of the lungs that cannot be reached with traditional bronchoscopy. A 3D map of the lung allows the healthcare professional controlling the tube to see exactly where the tube is and where it needs to go, and guide the tube to hard-to-reach nodules for biopsy.
Minimally invasive procedures can also be used to treat lung cancer and other lung problems. Instead of the traditional approach, which involves an open surgery called a thoracotomy, minimally invasive procedures use smaller incisions and often offer shorter recovery times. In video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), often used for early-stage small lung cancer, your doctor makes a few small incisions in your chest and then performs the surgery using a camera and special long-handled tools while looking at a video screen.
Robotic surgery, such as the da Vinci Surgical System or the Mako System, uses robotic arms (fully controlled by the doctor) in a minimally invasive way to treat more complex lung problems. Robotic surgery uses a video screen with high-resolution 3D imaging.
Advantages of minimally invasive procedures
Minimally invasive procedures only require small incisions, so they are much easier on the body, which can mean less pain for the patient, shorter recovery times, and smaller scars. Additionally, studies have shown that robotic surgery is associated with better outcomes than other types of minimally invasive surgery or open surgery, both during and after surgery. The benefits of robotic surgery include reduced need for blood transfusions, lower complication rates, shorter hospital stays, fewer hospital readmissions and even lower mortality rates.
Surgery that causes less pain can be particularly helpful for people undergoing cancer treatment. When your body doesn’t have to work as hard to heal from surgery, it may be better able to handle the next steps in your treatment plan.
And this type of minimally invasive cancer treatment is on the rise. A recent study from Duke University School of Medicine that looked at over 76,000 cases of lung cancer found that lung cancer surgery is moving in a less invasive direction — particularly for younger and healthier patients.
“This is a very encouraging result for the entire community of professionals caring for lung cancer patients,” said study author and Duke Medical School professor Xiaofei Wang, Ph.D., in a press release.
Know your options
Whether you’re dealing with the frightening possibility of a lung cancer diagnosis or another health issue, minimally invasive surgery can be a potential treatment tool.
To learn more about your options for less invasive treatments, speak to your HCP. They can guide you through your options and help you choose the best solution for your individual needs.
This educational resource was created with support from Intuitive.
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