Category Archives: General Surgery

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A general surgeon‘s responsibility is to care for the patients dealing with different conditions that usually require surgery. They don’t have any specialization or additional training, such as neurosurgery or heart surgery. But some general surgeons get advanced training in trauma surgery.

What General Surgeons Do?

The general surgeon performs a broad range of surgeries, including the abdomen, endocrine system glands, breasts, etc. Some of them are:

• Operatable surgeries of the gastrointestinal tract, which is a passage from the esophagus to the anus
• Breast diseases
• Liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation
• Trauma to the thorax and abdomen
• Some skin conditions
• Initial assessment of people with a peripheral vascular condition
• General surgery of children
• Elective surgery

After gynecology, general surgery is the second major surgical specialty in America. It includes a wide range of surgical specialties that may lead to many sub-specialties.

Surgeons with respective subspecialty do other general work as well. The most common emergency problem that requires surgery is acute abdominal pain because the abdomen has many organs that can cause pain. Moreover, other common health problems that require surgery include hernias, gallstones, and appendicitis.

Standard Procedures of General surgeons

The general surgeons widely use the procedure of minimally invasive surgery or laparoscopic. This method is also popular in patients because it is less scarring, takes less time to recover, usually don’t have side effects, and gives improved outcomes.

Moreover, this procedure works best for patients who don’t have a severe problem. For example, general surgeons perform less severe colon operations using this procedure.

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Almost every abdominal surgery can be carried out laparoscopically, including hernia repair. Some general surgeons also opt for a specialization in laparoscopic surgery.

Sub-Specialties Of Surgeons

A general surgeon has a broad range of sub-specialties and can perform the following surgeries:

• Breast surgery includes checking the breast cancer symptoms (biopsy), breast reconstructive surgery (lumpectomy), and breast cancer surgery (mastectomy or removal of one or both breasts)
• The lower gastrointestinal operation for the disease of the rectum, colon, and anal canal, and especially the bowel’s cancer
• Endocrine surgery includes thyroid and endocrine glands surgery.
• Upper gastrointestinal includes the surgery of the liver, stomach, esophagus, and pancreas, and also include weight loss surgery.
• Transplant surgery of kidney (renal), liver (hepatic), and pancreatic transplantation

Surgeons need special training for doing advanced trauma surgery (for trauma centers and military surgery) and for rural and remote surgery.

Where do they Work?

General surgeons must be present in A&E departments to perform emergency surgeries. In rural and remote parts of the country, general surgeons have high value and demand for their variety of skills.

As you learned, they also perform trauma surgery after accidents, although these operations are not so common nowadays because of the improved car safety technology. This job needs close collaboration with other specialist doctors and requires a holistic approach to treat the patient.

Highly specialized general surgeons are less in number. They only perform severe and complex operations within their respective sub-specialty, such as liver transplant surgery. Moreover, in the armed forces, the military surgeon is basically a general surgeon. Their major job is to treat trauma and emergency patients.

Bottom Line

A general surgeon is a highly qualified and experienced health professional who can perform various surgeries on different parts of the body. They operate the abdomen, esophagus, large intestines, small intestines, and other conditions. These surgeons treat diseases like appendicitis, hernias, esophagus cancer, and other severe health problems.

The surgeons perform operations that require experience and skills to manage and prevent the problems that may occur during the procedure. This is why you must always consult surgeons who have training in the specific disease or condition you have so that you will not face any complication and risk.

Lenox Hills Surgeons have an experienced team who perform surgeries using the most modern technological tools. If you are looking for the best general surgeons in NYC, you have come to the right place. Schedule an appointment for any general surgery today by visiting our website or calling us at 646-846-1136.