COLON POLYPS / TUMOURS

This has been the standard of care offered by our surgeons. It is a minimally invasive technique of resecting segments of the colon or rectum. Restoration of bowel continuity can also be achieved through this. It has been proven to be associated with less postoperative pain, equivalent survival outcomes in cancer, shorter hospital stays and fewer complications such as pneumonia and wound infection. The conventional open form of surgery is still practiced but these are confined to selected cases whereby the laparoscopic techniques are not suitable. As patient selection is critical, do consult our surgeons who will provide you with a comprehensive explanation.

Under this variant of minimally invasive surgery, our surgeons perform the same laparoscopic techniques, except that the robot is controlled from the surgeon console which is situated away from the patient. This device confers the benefits of superior dexterity, decreased motion tremors, improved motion scaling, 3 dimensional optics and precision especially in the confined space of the pelvis. It is especially useful in the surgical resection of rectal tumours.

In this novel technique of employing simultaneous endoscopy and laparoscopy, two surgeons operate simultaneously to tackle polyps in difficult locations of the colon or polyps that are benign but are too large for the conventional endoscopic techniques. General anaesthesia is required for this.

In a variant of minimally invasive surgery, our surgeons make a single incision through the abdominal wall. A dedicated device is placed through this small incision, usually measuring approximately 3-5 cm in length, and standard laparoscopic trocars and instruments are introduced into the abdomen to perform the colonic resection. This technique has been shown to be associated with better cosmetics and comparable postoperative pain with standard laparoscopic techniques.

This involves injecting a solution underneath the lesion to ‘lift’ it off the muscle layer of the colon, allowing the deployment of a snare wire and application of cautery to remove the polyp.

This is an endoscopic technique of removing larger polyps which are not suitable for removal using the standard forceps or snare cautery. A dedicated endoscope and cutting device is used to perform a precise excision of the lesion without penetration into the deeper layers of the muscle wall. Selected early cancers of the colon may be amenable to this form of treatment. Do check with our specialists to see if this is an option.