General surgery is a surgical discipline or specialty that includes, but is not restricted, to surgical procedures performed on the intestines, liver, colon, pancreas, gall bladder, stomach, and thyroid gland.
General surgeons may be trained to subspecialise in one of many areas. Some general surgeons are dedicated to transplant surgery, and must be ready at any time to harvest organs from suitable donors while others may focus on trauma surgery, breast surgery, colorectal surgery or vascular surgery.
Subspecialties under general surgery include:
- Breast surgery
- Colon and rectal (colorectal)
- Hepatobiliary (liver, gall bladder and biliary tract) and pancreatic surgery
- Injuries
- Upper gastrointestinal
- Vascular surgery
Laparoscopic Surgery
Usually referred to as keyhole or minimally invasive surgery (MIS), laparoscopic surgery involves smaller surgical cuts (usually 0.5 – 1.5cm) as compared to the larger incisions in a laparotomy (open) surgery. A special camera known as a laparoscope, as well as specialised surgical instruments are then passed through the cuts to enable surgery. General surgeries that can be performed laparoscopically include:
- Adrenalectomy (removal of the adrenal gland)
- Appendicectomy (removal of appendix)
- Bariatric and metabolic surgery
- Cholecystectomy (removal of the gall bladder)
- Colectomy (removal of part or all of colon)
- Hernia repair
- Repair of perforated peptic ulcer
- Thoracoscopic sympathectomy (surgical treatment of sweaty palms syndrome)