Minimally Invasive Surgery: Combating Pain, Achieving Relief

The advanced medical technology has given birth to minimally invasive procedures which are bringing convenience in medical treatments both for the doctors and the patients. Minimally invasive surgery is a technological breakthrough in the field of medicine that has completely changed the medical scenario today. Along with the increased convenience, it has reduced the risk, pain and complications, thus providing care, convenience and cure.

Well, defining literally, minimally invasive surgery allows surgeons to perform the surgery procedure by making small cuts or incisions which in turn facilitates reduced blood loss, tissue damage, less hospital stay and faster recovery. When comparing the same with conventional/traditional surgery, the cuts are larger which required a stipulated time to heal. The patients experience heavy bleeding, and it involves more risks and complications. However, some minimally invasive surgeries are done with robotic technology that allows more precise control over the surgery. It proves to be very useful in various joint replacement surgeries like hip, Knee and shoulder, ankle, etc.

In this blog, we are going to provide brief information on the two most common minimally invasive joint replacement surgeries i.e. of the knee and hip.

Minimally invasive Knee replacement surgery

The objective of both minimally invasive and traditional replacement surgery is to assuage chronic knee pain. There are certain points that differentiate these procedures from each other which are listed below:

• The major difference lies is in the procedure as the former requires small incisions and the later involves larger cuts to perform the surgical procedure.

• Another difference is in the length of the incision as in traditional knee replacement surgery an 8 to 12-inch incision is made down the middle of the knee whereas in minimally invasive procedure the surgeon requires only 3 to 6 inches of a skin incision.

• Conventional replacement procedure allows the surgeons to rotate the knee cap to 180 degrees, thus giving full access to the point where the femur and tibia meet. Whereas in minimally invasive procedure the kneecap is simply pushed aside.

• Following this, in conventional surgery tibia will be dislocated from the femur before fitting the prosthetics. But in minimally invasive procedure tibia will not be disclosed from the femur.

How well the procedure is performed whether conventional or minimally invasive depends on the experience of the surgeon. Best surgeons like Dr. Vivek Mittal have been credited for transforming many lives struggling from painful knee joints.

Minimally invasive hip replacement surgery

The basic procedure is similar to conventional hip replacement surgery. It is just that smaller incisions are made along with usage of special equipment designed to fix the socket and femur and to place the implants properly.

Single-incision surgery

The length of the single incision is 3-6 inches which depend on the size of the patient and complication of the procedure.

Two- incision surgery

In the type, two small incisions are made by the surgeon to execute the procedure. A 2-3 inch incision which is comparatively larger than the second one is made over the groin for placement of the socket. The second type of incision is 1- to 2-inches long and is made over the buttock for placement of the femoral stem. Generally, two-incision surgery requires a longer time to be performed when compared to traditional hip replacement surgery. Recovery is the most crucial part of orthopaedics and joint surgery as this determines its long-term success. So, it is important to follow the given set of instructions, by the doctor, and also undergo physical therapy with the help of a physiotherapist.