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Is minimally invasive surgery less painful?

Content provided by Dr. Sing-Ong, Lee, Director of Department of Anesthesiology, Hsinchu Cathay General Hospital

Minimally invasive surgery is currently the mainstream surgical technique used in gallbladder removal and is now increasingly employed in the surgery of various organs in the abdominal cavity, including relevant surgeries involving the stomach, large intestine, pancreas, kidney, spleen, and adrenal gland, and gynecological surgeries. Open abdomen surgery, which results in one large wound, is replaced by several small wounds (about 0.5–1.5 cm) in the abdomen. As a result, the surgical wound is smaller, and the patient is able to recover quickly. However, although there is less damage to the organs than in conventional open surgery, fundamental damage cannot be avoided. Therefore, there will still be visceral pain, which is more likely to lead to chronic pain in the future.