Minimally Invasive Laparoscopic Urological Surgery

Traditional open surgery is performed through a large cut so that surgeon's instruments and hands can reach the surgical target safely. This inevitably leads to damage to muscles and nerves of the body wall and can lead to pain, discomfort and later complications such as hernias. Minimally invasive surgery is performed through tiny incisions instead of large opening using specialised telescopes and instruments. Because the incisions are small, there is less damage to the body than with open surgery and the risk of complications is minimised.

Laparoscopy, also known as keyhole surgery, is the most common type of minimally invasive surgery used to perform surgery on organs located in the abdominal cavity and pelvis. Laparoscopic urology uses these minimally invasive keyhole techniques to treat conditions affecting the kidneys, ureters, bladder and prostate. Advances in technology assist surgeons to perform laparoscopic procedures to treat a wide range of urological conditions with potentially better outcomes.

Until 2015 laparoscopic urological surgery was not available in Dunedin but now we perform almost all procedures related to kidneys and ureters using this technique. Laparoscopic surgery on kidneys and ureter such as nephrectomy (removal of kidney), partial nephrectomy (removal of part of the kidney), pyeloplasty (reconstruction of the obstructed ureter where it joins the kidney) and ureteric reimplantation (joining of ureter to the bladder if part of the ureter is damaged) is now considered to be the gold standard of treatment worldwide because this technique has significant advantages to the patient and is at least as safe and effective as open surgery.