PATIENT EDUCATION

Laparoscopic Surgery/Minimally Invasive Surgery

Colon and rectal cancer is a silent disease and is very treatable with surgery if caught early.  The way to catch this disease early is to be aware of your bodily functions.  Any changes in your bodily functions or change in bowel habits, bleeding, constipation or diarrhea, pain all indicate the need for a colonoscopy.  

When a colonoscopy is preformed if there is a cancer it can be identified.  Generally the treatment of cancer of the colon or rectum has had significant impact on the quality of life after a resection.  To remove the colon large incisions were required sometimes 12- 15 inches in length.  These incisions were painful and often difficult to recover from even years later.  

Dr. McConnell began preforming laparoscopic resections in her residency training program in 1990. She had preformed hundreds of laparoscopic surgerys prior to beginning her fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota.  During her years at the clinic the laparoscopic colon trial of Dr. Heidi Nelson was going on and she participated in the care of many of the patients in this trial.  She continues to preforms 2-3 laparoscopic resections each week.  She has preforms over 100 colon resections a year.

Laparoscopic surgery or minimally invasive surgery has changed the outcome for patients dramatically after a major surgery.  The incision which had been 12 inches long is now 2 inches long. The stay in the hospital which had been 2 weeks is now 2 days.  The return to activity of daily living had been 4-6 weeks is now 1 -2 weeks. Pain medications that restricted driving (narcotics) are no longer used and patients are able to drive themselves home from the hospital.

Dr. McConnell does a combination approach of instruments and examination with hand through this two inch incision (yes she has small hands).  This allows tactile feel for any other tumors within the abdomen.  Several patients who have presented with colon cancer have had pathology found in other organs. By palpation of these other organs  early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, renal cell cancer and carcinoid tumor of the small bowel have been made by Dr. McConnell.

Other benefits of laparoscopic surgery are also being realized with the magnification of the abdominal contents other organs are more easily identified and are much easier to avoid.  Clear images of the other organs also allows for more detailed examination for metastatic spread of the disease.

Please review this link to answer more of your questions:

http://www.colon-surgery.info