Abdominal Surgery

What is abdominal surgery?

Abdominal surgery is a broad term covering the operations that take place in your abdomen, which is the area between your ribs and your pelvis.

Dr. Kalan is a renowned expert in surgery for abdominal pain, benign and malignant diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and the organs within the abdomen and pelvis. These could include:

• Colon and Rectum
• Appendix
• Stomach and Small Intestine
• Gallbladder and Bile Ducts
• Pancreas
• Adrenal Glands
• Spleen
• Liver
• Lymph Nodes

Dr. Kalan is accomplished in performing open surgery where necessary and excels in laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery. He also carries out diagnostic laparoscopy to investigate unexplained abdominal pain.  

What conditions might require abdominal surgery?

There are numerous conditions that might require abdominal surgery.

In many cases, your condition is likely to benefit from other, less invasive approaches such as medication. However, if treatment isn’t working or you’re at risk of developing more serious complications, then surgery is advisable. This would be the case with chronic conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Dr. Kalan has extensive experience with the surgical management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

In other cases, surgery is the best option. The earlier stages of abdominal cancers are a common condition for which prompt surgery is recommended.

Some conditions require emergency abdominal surgery. Appendicitis is a good example of a condition needing emergency surgery. If you have an obstruction in your intestines or there’s a blockage that’s cutting off your blood supply, it can have severe consequences, so emergency surgery could be lifesaving.

Another example of why you might need to undergo abdominal surgery is when Dr. Kalan has to perform an exploratory procedure to find the cause of your distressing symptoms after a comprehensive exam during a visit to the Washington Institute of Surgery. Although modern diagnostic testing and imaging technologies are highly advanced, they might not be able to pick up some problems.

If there’s no other way to determine the cause of your symptoms, abdominal surgery could provide the answers.

What types of abdominal surgery are there?

There are three types of abdominal surgery:

Traditional (open) surgery

Open surgery requires a longer incision in your abdomen. Some procedures have to be done using open surgery, but it can cause more postoperative pain and recovery often takes longer.

Minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery

Minimally invasive surgery involves using a lighted telescope called a laparoscope that has a camera on the end of it. Dr. Kalan inserts the laparoscope through a small incision and uses other small incisions to insert special surgical instruments. He performs the surgery by watching the images sent back from the camera.

Laparoscopic surgery causes less tissue damage and pain than open surgery, and recovery is much quicker.

Find out more about your abdominal surgery options by calling the Washington Institute of Surgery today or book an appointment online.