The colon is the large intestine where the small intestine empties the metabolic wastes of digestion that are not absorbed in the body. After absorption of water, the colon expels these wastes as faeces through the rectum at regular intervals. Common colon ailments include irregular bowel movements, growth of polyps, and colon cancer. Sometimes, surgical interventions are necessary to take care of these problems in the colon. As people grow older, often small outpouchings of the intestine form called colonic diverticuli. Diverticulosis and diverticulitis are conditions that arise from these outpouchings of the intestine and may sometimes cause bleeding and infection. If you have suffered multiple attacks then you may require an operation to remove the effected portion of the colon.
The gallbladder is located near the liver and it is a small pear-shaped organ that stores extra bile. Bile is made of water, cholesterol, biliary salts and biliary acids and is a substance that is required to dissolve fat during digestion. The liver produces about one liter of bile a day and the gallbladder serves as a small storage container for a small fraction of the bile produced daily. This extra bile is released by the gallbladder to aid in digestion during especially fatty meals.
Laparoscopic surgery uses long-pencil like instruments that fit through small cuts in the abdominal wall instead of large incisions required during open operations.
Robotic Assisted Nerve Grafting to Relieve Compensatory Sweating
In the polite form we say that people perspire. In a little less polite form but well understood – people sweat. As is usually the case in medicine there is a precise term, hidrosis. Excessive sweating is hyperhidrosis. At one time or another everybody sweats too much.
Although not essential to health, scalp hair can be important to self-image and hair loss or alopecia may lead to significant psychological distress. Some degree of hair loss is relatively common following bariatric surgery, usually occurring 3 months or more after surgery and affecting around athird of all patients. The precise causes of post-bariatric hair loss are unknown; factors including changes in nutritional status and the impact of surgery upon the hair growth cycle are thought to be involved. In most cases, hair will begin to regrow without intervention once weight has stabilized.
Achalasia means “failure to relax” and refers to a disorder of the muscle at the end of esophagus that doesn’t open normally during swallowing. It is also known as also known as esophageal achalasia, achalasia cardiae, cardiospasm, and esophageal aperistalsis. During achalasia, the smooth muscle that is responsible for swallowing looses its normal muscle tone and the lower esophageal sphincter does not relax correctly. Achalasia is a relatively rare condition with a prevalence estimated at less than 0.001%. A Laparoscopic or Robotic modified Heller myotomy is considered the standard of care for palliation of this incurable but benign disease.
Excess Skin and Body Contouring Post-Bariatric Surgery
It’s good to keep in mind that you’re on the final stage of returning your body to a healthier, better-looking condition. To help you through this stage you can consider body contouring and excess skin removal to improve the shape and tone of your underlying tissue. Although the skin incisions are significant, the result is a more normal appearance to the body, with smoother contours.
The Robotics program started at St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center approximately 10 years ago. Surgeons at St. Luke’s – Roosevelt performed the first thymectomy for Myasthenia Gravis in the United States, the first robotic bi-ventricular lead placement for heart pacing in the world, and one of the first three-hole robotic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer in the United States.
