General surgery: Importance, Types of Procedures Involved

General surgery is a speciality of medical sciences that focuses on diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the abdominal body parts. A general surgeon is a highly experienced professions who works on the abdominal content, which includes the liver, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid gland, stomach, esophagus, bowel and colon.

Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery and breast surgery also fall under general surgery category. These two are popular cosmetic surgery procedures used to reconstruct, renovate or restore a part of the body that is naturally defected or gets damaged because of an accident or trauma.

Weight-Loss surgery

Bariatric surgery for weight loss also falls under this speciality. This surgery involves the use of surgical tools to cut away extra fat accumulated around the stomach and the abdominal region. Alternatively, a gastric band is used to reduce the size of the stomach and in turn, slow down the digestion process so that the patient eats less after the surgery.

Lung surgery

Lung surgery is yet another common procedure conducted under general surgery. It is done to correct diseases related to the lungs, such as emphysema, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension and interstitial lung disease. A surgery is also required in case of lung biopsy, in which a piece of tissue is extracted and the cells are looked under a microscope to check for any abnormalities.

Kidney surgery

A kidney surgery is performed in case of a condition related to the bean-shaped organs that help in detoxification of the body by filtering out waste. A surgery is conducted in case of chronic kidney disease, kidney failure and kidney damage among other conditions.