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- Imagine Surgery with Little or No Scarring
- If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a condition that may require surgery, you owe it to yourself to learn about all of your medical options, including the most effective, minimally invasive surgical treatments available.
Chilton Memorial Hospital offers a variety of minimally invasive procedures, spanning a wide range of specialties, including robot-assisted surgery and single incision laparoscopic surgery.
Minimally invasive surgery offers many benefits over traditional open surgery. It means less trauma to the body, less blood loss, smaller incisions and surgical scars, shorter hospital stays and faster return to normal activities. Minimally invasive surgeries performed at Chilton Memorial Hospital include (click on a procedure for more detail):
- Balloon Sinuplasty
- Sinusitis is a debilitating condition that has a variety of symptoms such as headaches, facial pressure, nasal congestion, loss of smell, fever, fatigue, nasal drainage, postnasal drainage, bad breath and even pain in the teeth. People with chronic sinusitis often miss a lot of work and school and have a significantly decreased quality of life.
For patients who do not respond to medical therapy, otolaryngologists (ears, nose and throat doctors) at Chilton Memorial Hospital employ the Relieva Balloon Sinuplasty system. It's an innovative new technology that treats chronic sinusitis via the nasal passages without incisions on the face or in the mouth.
Balloons similar to those used to dilate blood vessels in the heart are inserted into the sinuses via endoscopic or radiographic guidance. These are then opened at the narrowed regions of sinus drainage. Since nothing is cut or removed, the patient experiences less bleeding and pain and post-operative care is simplified. Further, complications are reduced given the simplicity and minimally invasive nature of the procedure.
- DVT Treatment (Pharmaco-Mechanical Thrombectomy)
- Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) kills around 100,000 Americans per year. This condition is a blood clot which occurs in veins beneath the skin. These clots are most often found in the legs or pelvis. Why is it so dangerous? DVT can potentially lead to a pulmonary embolism when blood clots break loose, travel through the bloodstream and lodge in the lungs. DVT is such a vital medical issue that the U.S. Surgeon General made it his "Call to Action," or No. 1 priority in 2008. Historically, the most important treatment for DVT has been prevention and blood thinners.
Cardiologists at Chilton Memorial Hospital use a procedure called "pharmaco-mechanical thrombectomy" in which the blood clots are dissolved with medication and vacuumed out using a special device designed for this purpose. It's a minimally invasive procedure that saves limbs and lives. After confirming the DVT by taking x-ray pictures of the veins, a catheter is inserted to deliver clot-dissolving medications, called thrombolytics, directly at the site. Caregivers typically let the medication soak from 20 minutes up to an hour to loosen and dissolve the clot. Then we use the catheter-based device through the same small needle hole to vacuum it out. With the clot gone, the blood can flow from the legs and the swelling goes down quickly. Patients can go home soon after the procedure.
- Endostent Procedure for Aneurysms
- An aneurysm is like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. If left untreated, it can enlarge until it ruptures, causing severe bleeding inside the body or sudden death. The problem is, most people with aneurysms don't even know they have one. Aneurysms usually occur in the aorta, the largest artery in the human body. The aorta, which is typically less than an inch in diameter, carries blood from the heart to the chest and abdomen. An aneurysm is present when a bulge in the aorta increases it to more than one and a half to two times its normal width.
For patients who warrant a surgical intervention to treat abdominal and thoracic (chest) aortic aneurysms, as well as aneurysms in other areas of the body, Chilton Memorial Hospital offers a less-invasive and safer option called an endovascular stent graft, (a.k.a. endostent). The endostent is essentially a tube composed of fabric supported by a metal mesh. It is designed to help prevent the aneurysm from rupturing. It seals tightly with the artery above and below the aneurysm, allowing blood to pass through it without pushing on the bulge. Another positive feature of this procedure is that the graft is somewhat preoperatively tailored to the patient. If the surgery can be planned (non-emergency), the patient's vessels are measured for a custom fit.
The major benefits of the endostent procedure for the patient include:
- Shorter recovery time
- Less blood loss
- Less chance of post-operative complications
- Only a small incision in the artery or vein
- Radioguided Parathyroid Surgery
- Hyperparathyroidism is the result of excess parathyroid hormone production by over-activity of one or more of the parathyroid glands. The parathyroid glands are four tiny glands located adjacent to the thyroid gland that help the body regulate calcium. Excess parathyroid hormones result in high levels of calcium in the blood. Most cases are caused by abnormal growth of one of the glands, though up to all four can be involved. Most cases are spontaneous, but some can be genetic or a result of kidney failure.
Symptoms of hyperparathyroidism include kidney stones, bone pain, osteoporosis, gastrointestinal issues, fatigue, depression, cognitive problems and excessive urination and thirst. Traditional approaches involved exploration of the entire thyroid to find the afflicted gland and to make sure none of the other glands are involved. This requires a large incision and can take several hours to perform.
At Chilton Memorial Hospital, we offer minimally invasive parathyroid surgery. Prior to surgery, a Sestamibi scan is performed to determine which gland is involved. An incision about an inch in size is made over the suspected gland. With the help of a probe used to detect radioactivity, the gland is identified and removed. Minimally invasive radioguided parathyroid surgery is a faster procedure with a significantly smaller scar, less pain and a quicker, easier recovery. It can even be performed under local anesthetic. Studies show equivalent, if not better, cure rates compared to the traditional approach.
- SILS for Gall Bladder Removal
- Gall bladder surgery, or cholecystectomy, is a common procedure. But, did you know that surgeons at Chilton Memorial Hospital are able to remove the organ through one's umbilicus (belly button)? The SILS (single incision laparoscopic surgery) ultimately results in the potential for no visible scar. By comparison, traditional laparoscopic cholecystectomies involve four ½-inch or smaller incisions that may leave scars. Patients are able to go home the same day of surgery and may never even see evidence of the surgery.
Currently, more than 80 percent of all cholecystectomies performed in the United States are done laparoscopically with multiple access points. Using the next generation SILS procedure, surgeons can make a single 20mm incision through the belly button minimizing the pain that may be associated with the additional sites of entry.
- Stomaphyx
- Gastric bypass surgery is an excellent weight-loss procedure that can add years back to one's life. However, certain patients may need a tune-up to keep the weight off. A revolutionary, non-invasive procedure called "Natural Orifice Surgery" (NOS) is available at Chilton Memorial Hospital to help bariatric surgery patients stay at a healthy weight.
With NOS, the physician lowers a device called a "StomaphyX" into the patient's stomach through the mouth. Guided by an endoscope, the FDA-approved StomaphyX acts like a tiny sewing machine to shrink the stomach by stitching up folds of tissue. No pain medications are necessary. There is often no recovery period whatsoever. Chilton Memorial Hospital was the first hospital in Morris County to offer the StomaphyX procedure.
- XLIF
- Do you suffer from low back pain? In most cases it can be treated effectively with exercise therapy, but surgery may be the only answer for others. Neurosurgeons at Chilton Memorial Hospital are now using the XLIF (extreme lateral interbody fusion) procedure as an alternative to traditional spine surgery. The minimally invasive XLIF procedure shortens hospitalization time while improving outcomes. There is also less risk of persistent pain because the procedure requires less disruption of tissues.
A mere one-inch incision, as opposed to the traditional five, allows access to area that needs treatment. In the past, lumbar fusion had been achieved through the patient's back or abdomen. With XLIF, the lumbar region is much easier to access with the patient lying on their side. There is less exposure of vital areas, less risk of damage to these areas and a lesser recovery period with this procedure. In addition, there is less blood loss, less operative time, and less pain to the patient than a standard open operation.
After receiving the XLIF procedure, patients are often back on their feet within a day or two. The typical recovery period is approximately four to six weeks instead of the six months following a typical open back surgery. And, XLIF is a much safer alternative to traditional spinal surgery because it utilizes a special nerve monitoring system. This system uses sensors to warn that the surgeon's probe is approaching one of the nerves running through the muscle. This warning system allows the physician to stay away from sensitive areas, thus minimizing the chances of damage.
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