Surgeons in Santiago, Chile are using the latest technique to reduce the impact of an operation — a magnet.
The method sees the team insert a tiny metal tip into the patient and then manoeuvre it around their body from the outside.
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It’s much like a normal laparoscopy but developer, Dr. Alberto Rodriguez Navarro, says it’s less invasive.
“You decrease the need to make incisions in order to move the surgical instruments and it also gives you much greater versatility since you are not limited to the point of entry. That is, the entry point limits the capacity of movements you can make,” Rodriguez, CEO of Levita Magnetics, said.
“If you make the movement through the wall, it gives you a much richer range of movements and that allows the surgeon to have an instrument that is much more versatile, that sees better and that does the surgery in a better way. That is our objective.”
The procedure allows surgeons to manipulate the tip — even move organs into a better position. The results include less post-operative pain, less visible scaring, and a quicker recovery.
“The objective is to improve the results of surgery — reducing the impact on the patient and we are working to evolve the surgical technique so that procedures can be done with fewer incisions,” Rodriguez said.
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It’s a welcome development according to one surgeon.
“With fewer incisions and smaller incisions, recovery is undoubtedly much more beneficial for the patient — less pain, less risk of bleeding,” Dr. Eugenio Rivas Zapata said.
Originally designed for gall bladder operations, Levita Magnetics technique now has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and was declared Innovation of 2016 by the U.S. Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons.
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