Atrium Health Navicent Peach

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General Surgery

SURGERY AT TMCPC

General surgery is the treatment of injury, deformity, and disease using operative procedures when a cure is unlikely through medication alone. Areas of the body treated by general surgery include the stomach, liver, intestines, appendix, breasts, thyroid gland, salivary glands, some arteries and veins, and the skin.

New methods and techniques are less invasive than previous practices, permitting procedures that were considered impossible in the past. For example, microsurgery has been used in reattaching severed body parts by successfully reconnecting small blood vessels and nerves.

General surgery experienced major advances with the introduction of the endoscope. This is an instrument for visualizing the interior of a body canal or a hollow organ. Endoscopic surgery relies on this pencil-thin instrument, capable of its own lighting system and small video camera.

The endoscope is inserted through tiny incisions called portals. While viewing the procedure on a video screen, the surgeon then operates with various other small, precise instruments inserted through one or more of the portals. The specific area of the body treated determines the type of endoscopic surgery performed.

For example, colonoscopy uses an endoscope, which can be equipped with a device for obtaining tissue samples for visual examination of the colon. Gastroscopy uses an endoscope inserted through the mouth to examine the interior of the stomach. Arthroscopy refers to joint surgery, and abdominal procedures are called laparoscopies.

Endoscopy is used in both treatment and diagnosis especially involving the digestive and female reproductive systems. Endoscopy has advantages over many other surgical procedures, resulting in a quicker recovery and shorter hospital stay. This non-invasive technique is being used for appendectomies, gallbladder surgery, hysterectomies and the repair of shoulder and knee ligaments.

The general surgeons at Atrium Health Navicent Peach offer a range of procedures, including:

Endoscopy

  • EGD-upper endoscopy
  • Colonoscopy
  • Flexible sigmoidoscopy
  • Tissue biopsy and polypectomy
  • Anoscopy with banding of hemorrhoids

Abdominal

  • Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal through a scope)
  • Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal)
  • Hernia repair (Inguinal, Ventral, Umbilical, Incisional)
  • Appendectomy
  • Laparoscopic Appendectomy (Appendix removal through a scope)
  • Diagnostic Laparoscopy
  • Colon surgery for benign or malignant disease
  • Ulcer surgery
  • Surgery on small intestine
  • Feeding tube placement

Breast

  • Sentinel node biopsy
  • Open biopsy
  • Lumpectomy
  • Partial or superficial mastectomy
  • Modified Radical mastectomies
  • Excision of benign masses
  • Removal of breast duct

Anorectal

  • Hemorrhoidectomy
  • Anal fistulectomy
  • Anal fissurectomy

Head and Neck

  • Removal of the thyroid gland
  • Removal of the parathyroid gland
  • Surgery on the parotid gland
  • Removal of mass in the neck

Other

  • Amputation
  • Venous Access port placement
  • Scar revision
  • Incision and Drainage of Abscess
  • Excision of lesion or mass