Other Services All Open Surgery

Open surgery is the traditional type of surgery in which an incision is made using a scalpel. The surgeon then inserts the instruments and conducts the surgery. Open surgery is usually compared to “minimally invasive” surgical techniques which may involve smaller incisions or even (in some cases) no incision at all. While minimally invasive surgery has become increasingly popular, there are a number of situations in which open surgery is still preferable.

Pros and Cons of Open Surgery

Open surgery is on the wane because of new technologies that make it so much easier to avoid large incisions and the risks that come with them.

For example, with an open approach, the incision for a typical appendectomy is approximately 4 inches long.

But that doesn’t mean that open surgery is obsolete. In some cases, for example:

• Repairs simply cannot be made effectively using minimally invasive techniques
• Only open surgery provides the visual information required to completely remove tissues or accurately diagnose a condition
• Some types of surgeries require access to larger areas in order to insert materials such as mesh for hernias