Laser Surgery
What is laser surgery?
In laser surgery, devices that produce a narrow beam of extremely intense light are used to divide or weld tissues or to destroy cells. When the beam reaches the tissue for example, a tumour the cells are affected by its heat. The tissue coagulates, evaporates, or becomes charred.
Some new laser act by directly breaking down the molecules of the cells, but the precise mechanism of their action is not yet fully understood.
As the laser beam cuts through the tissue, it seals small blood and lymph vessels. This action reduces blood loss during the operation and lessens the risk of infection. Lasers also allow surgeons to make very precise cuts with minimal damage to surrounding tissue. Thanks to these advantages, doctors can perform operation that should be highly complicated or impossible with traditional methods.
Lasers are widely used in eye surgery. They seal leaking blood vessels in the retina and pierce tiny holes in the eyeball to prevent the buildup of fluid that occurs in glaucoma.
In neurosurgery, lasers are used for operations near delicate structures of the brain, such as the optic nerve. They can also burn off papillomas, benign tumours of the larynx, and remove pre-cancerous mouth lesions with minimal bleeding and scarring.
Lasers are now being used to reduce the intensity of portwine birthmarks by destroying the vessels that cause the reddish or purple colour of the mark. Doctors also employ them, on an experimental basis, to fragment kidney stones and, most recently, to open up clogged arteries in the legs and around the heart.
Since their first used in surgery in the 1960′s, many new types of laser have been created. Each has a different wavelength, which interacts best with a particular type of tissue.
What happens during laser surgery?
The choise between laser treatment and traditional surginal procedures is made individually for each specific medical case. Often, a laser procedure does not require hopitaliation. Doctors perform operations on the eye and carry out many other types of laser surgery in the outpatient clinic.
If, for example, a doctor is treating a birthmark, the patient will be seated in a chair and the eyes covered with protective goggles or a shield. The mark is then treated with a beam emerging from a small wand attached by a cord to a device that looks similar to a refrigerator, which as development proceeds is becoming smaller.
When the procedure involves internal organs, the doctor may perform the operation with an endoscope a long tube equipped with an optical device that allows one to see inside the body. The tube may be introduced through a small surgical incision or through the mouth or rectum. The doctor can activate the laser beam at the tube’s end and not have to open up the body to carry out the procedure.
Is laser surgery unpleasant?
On the whole, laser surgery is less traumatic than traditional surgery. Some types of eye surgery such as operations on the retina are completely painless. However, the doctor may give a sedative or local anaesthetic. The patient may see a bright flash or light every time the surgeon uses the laser.
Laser surgery using an endoscope may be a little uncomfortable. Patients receive local anaesthesia and a sedative to alleviate their anxiety. Sometimes, general anaesthetics may be used if discomfort or distress are likely.
How long does laser surgery take?
Laser surgery takes much less time than traditional operations. The actual application of the laser beam to the tissue lasts only seconds or fractions of seconds at a time, because the beam is so powerful. However, sometimes, more than one application is necessary. An eye operation in a clinic can take as little as 20 minutes, although other procedures may take longer.
In certain cases, a hospital stay of as long as 2 – 3 weeks can be reduced to a few days by treating a condition with laser surgery instead of conventionally. Or, the treatment can be carried out on out-patient basis.
Is laser surgery dangerous?
Laser beams have a great destructive capacity and can cause injury to the body, especially the eyes. If laser surgery is performed on your head for neck, you will be given protective eye gear to wear. There is a risk of burning the tissue around the laser incision but this should not occur under normal circumstances.
Laser surgery is relatively new and more clinical studies are needed. For example, controlling the depth to which the beam penetrates is a factor still needing improvement. When used to unclog arteries, there is a risk of the beam puncturing the artery walls. In general, doctors use laser surgery only when it has been established that traditional techniques cannot accomplish the same results.
Preparation
Since laser surgery does not entail as much cutting or blood loss as conventional surgery, it can usually be done on an outpatient basis. It is also relatively painless; and so it may be done with minimal anaesthesia. Even so, a sedative or tranquillizer is often given.
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