New state-of-the art equipment, which has been installed at Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, means the facility can now expand the range of minimally invasive surgical procedures available to patients in the catchment area of east Galway, Roscommon, the midlands and mid-west.
Commenting on the equipment Eddie Myers, a colorectal and general surgeon at Portiuncula Hospital and Galway University Hospitals said laparoscopic surgery offers many major benefits to patients.
“These include reduced post operative pain, increased post operative comfort, a reduced hospital stay and a quicker return to normal physical activities and to work. This equipment allows us to perform more complex surgeries in a minimal access fashion with associated patient benefits.”
The new equipment allows the hospital to carry out many minimally invasive procedures to treat an extensive range of conditions such as gallbladder complaints, hernias, haemorrhoids, gastric reflux conditions, colorectal procedures and female incontinence.
The new technology called laparoscopy (also known as minimally invasive surgery ) allows surgeons to perform the same procedures as in traditional open surgery, using much smaller incisions (keyhole surgery ) and in some cases without a general anaesthetic.
“This equipment provides excellent visualisation of anatomical structures thereby facilitating an expanded range of minimal access for general and gastrointestinal surgical procedures for patients in our catchment area,” Mr Myers concluded.
