Surgery
Surgery in Israel is rightfully one of the most developed medical fields. Patients from all over the world come to Israeli clinics, including Tel Aviv Medical Center, for surgical treatment. Surgeons at leading medical centers take on even the most difficult cases when a patient is denied surgery at home. And the following principles of Israeli surgery help in this matter:
- Active development and rapid implementation of modern technologies into practice.
- Participation of Israeli government in financing various medical research and scientific projects in the field of surgery.
- Only modern, safe and effective medical equipment application both at the stage of diagnosing surgical pathology, and during surgery and at the stage of recovery after intervention.
- High-quality training of medical personnel in Israel and their subsequent continuous education and advanced training in various fields of surgery – neurosurgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, urology, oncology, gynecology, etc.
- Unwavering professionalism of Israeli surgical doctors and good theoretical training, as well as practical experience (doctors study in Israel for 16 years before starting to perform surgeries on their own).
Depertments
Since there are a lot of surgical areas in medicine, Tel Aviv Medical Center has entire surgical departments:
- General surgery – deals with treatment of most common surgical pathologies (acute appendicitis, acute cholecystitis, acute pancreatitis, intestinal obstruction, etc.).
- Department of Neurosurgery – deals with modern surgical techniques for treating diseases and injuries of brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves.
- Department of Maxillofacial Surgery – deals with treatment of all types of injuries and diseases of facial part of skull and oral cavity.
- Surgical ENT department – deals with treatment of injuries and diseases of ear, nose and throat, including surgical treatment of malignant neoplasms of head and neck.
- Plastic surgery – all types of plastic surgeries that are performed for both cosmetic and medical reasons (for example, correction of congenital developmental defects, reconstructive surgeries after severe injuries or burns).
- Surgical oncology department – here patients undergo radical, less often palliative, surgical treatment.
- Thoracic surgery – treatment of surgical diseases or injuries of esophagus, mediastinal organs, lungs, chest wall and diaphragm.
- Cardiac surgery – surgeries on heart and great vessels.
- Hand surgery – treatment of injuries and diseases of hands, as well as restorative interventions for impaired hand function.
- Surgical urology – all types of surgeries on kidneys, ureters, bladder, prostate, including in cancer treatment.
- Surgical gynecology – surgical treatment of diseases or injuries of female reproductive system, including gynecological oncology.
- Vascular surgery – surgical interventions on blood vessels (arteries and veins) for diseases or traumatic injuries.
- Orthopedics – deals with surgical treatment of musculoskeletal system, for example, joint replacement, spinal surgery.
- Orthopedics oncology is a medical field that specializes in treatment of neoplasms (malignant and benign) in bones, joints, connective tissue, muscles, tendons and other structures of the musculoskeletal system.
- Bariatric surgery – surgical treatment of obesity (for example, gastric bypass).
- Surgical ophthalmology – all types of eye surgeries (eg retinal surgery, cataract surgery).
What diseases does Surgery Department treat?
Diagnostic methods in surgery
The success of treating surgical patients at Tel Aviv Medical Center lies not only in perfectly performed surgeries, but also in high-quality and accurate preoperative diagnostics. To clarify diagnosis and plan the scope of future surgery, surgeons usually use the following modern diagnostic methods:
- Ultrasound diagnostics using modern expert-class devices using color Dopplerography (ultrasound of abdominal organs, kidneys and bladder, heart, blood vessels, pelvic organs, prostate, etc.). It allows us to accurately visualize most internal organs and anatomical structures and find their pathological changes.
- CT scan. Modern high-resolution devices, even without contrast, allow us to see in detail all the changes in the body and plan in detail the scope of surgery.
- Magnetic resonance imaging with and without contrast. Allows a particularly detailed examination of spine, brain and other organs. This procedure is safe as it does not involve x-rays.
- Angiography of vessels of heart or head. The technique allows us to accurately examine all vessels, quickly find pathological process and eliminate it.
- PET-CT – this technique combines diagnostic capabilities of positron emission and magnetic resonance imaging. Such diagnostic equipment is available only in a few countries, including Israel, and helps to accurately diagnose malignant neoplasms.
- Endoscopic diagnostic methods – esophagogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy. Modern optical systems application in installations for endoscopic intervention allows not only to perform high-quality diagnostics, but also to perform a whole range of therapeutic manipulations, as well as perform a biopsy of suspicious areas.
- Video capsule endoscopy – examination from inside of the entire gastrointestinal tract using a camera the size of a tablet. Patient swallows this video capsule, after which doctor receives a photo or video image in real time. This method allows us to examine the entire mucous membrane in detail and localize all pathological changes in places inaccessible to other diagnostic methods.
Thanks to such modern diagnostics, patients can be sure that diagnosis is correct and prescribed surgery is justified and necessary.
Important!
An important treatment advantage in Surgical Department of Israeli clinics is that even after complex surgical interventions (for example, treatment of cancer or heart surgery), patients are discharged from department early – within 3-5 days.
Such early activation of patient is possible thanks to active introduction of minimally invasive surgical techniques into practice, surgeon’s skills of and modern medical equipment application.
Modern treatment methods in surgery
One of the basic principles of Israeli surgery is to maintain a high quality of life for patient after treatment. That is why all surgical interventions are organ-preserving whenever possible. For example, in case of breast cancer, in 90% of cases it is possible to avoid a mastectomy and preserve mammary gland, which is extremely important for woman.
It is for this purpose that modern robotic surgical units are actively used in Surgical Department – for example, the latest model of Da Vinci robotic surgeon. Such surgeries are performed for diseases and tumors of the prostate, female genital organs, and stomach. Robot-assisted interventions have significant advantages over open and even endoscopic surgeries – they are less traumatic, are accompanied by less blood loss, and recovery is much faster.
Also, most surgical interventions are endoscopic; very rarely doctors resort to open surgery with large incisions.
The main advantages of endoscopic surgery:
- reduction of hospitalization period;
- fast recovery;
- significantly lower risk of all postoperative complications;
- absence of large postoperative scars on skin – a good cosmetic effect. Varieties of such surgical interventions can be:
- laparoscopic intervention for diseases of abdominal organs, prostate, internal female genital organs;
- transurethral intervention for damage to bladder and prostate gland;
- hysteroscopy for pathology of uterus and its cervix;
- thoracoscopy for injuries, diseases or malignant tumors of lungs and pleura.
The area of joint replacement has received particularly high development. We use only endoprostheses and their parts produced by proven and high-quality well-known global manufacturers. Their materials are absolutely biocompatible and do not cause rejection reactions, allergic or other complications. If necessary, endoprosthetics of almost all joints is performed: knee, hip, shoulder, ankle, wrist, elbow.
Bariatric POSE surgery, unlike other surgical procedures for obesity treatment, is performed without a single external incision. Surgeon performs all manipulations using a modern endoscopic unit, which is inserted into patient’s stomach through esophagus. During surgery, the surgeon makes folds on the walls of stomach using special clips, which reduces its volume, and this in the future allows us to lose from 20 to 70 or more extra pounds.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and appendectomy – removal of inflamed or altered gallbladder and appendix using a laparoscopic installation without large incisions in abdominal wall. Surgeries performed laparoscopically allow the patient to be discharged from hospital on 2nd day and return to their previous life.
HAL-RAR method for hemorrhoids. This is a minimally invasive and effective method for treating hemorrhoids. In total, the procedure lasts no more than 30 minutes. All manipulations are performed using a transparent endoscope – anoscope. At the same time, using an ultrasound sensor with color Doppler, surgeon looks for vessels that feed the hemorrhoids and ligates them. After 10-14 days, all symptoms of hemorrhoids disappear.
Laparoscopic hernioplasty for hernias of anterior abdominal wall. In Israel to eliminate hernias, laparoscopic access and mesh implants made of biocompatible material are used. The duration of hospitalization is 1-2 days, recovery is quick and without complications.
Modern laser treatment of urolithiasis is performed using a holmium laser (holmium lithotripsy) according to patented Israeli Mose technique. The procedure is carried out using an endoscope-urethroscope, which is inserted through urethra and brought directly to stone, where surgeon uses a laser to perform lithotripsy. The duration of procedure is 20-40 minutes, patient is discharged home on the same day.
Surgical Department of Tel Aviv Medical Center performs many more modern surgeries, including using original and unique techniques. If you are about to undergo surgery and are deciding where it is best to have it done, trust us with your health.
Surgeon-oncologist, leading specialist at the clinic for the treatment of gastrointestinal tumors
Specialist in pediatric surgery, head of department
Leading surgeon, head of the department of liver and kidney transplantation
Specialist in intestinal surgery, leading colorectal surgeon