Surgery is a technique which is used to diagnose or treat any medical ailment whose treatment or diagnosis is not possible through medicines only. A surgical procedure involves number of techniques, steps and instruments. Surgical staff includes a surgeon, anesthesiologist, nursing staff and technician. There are many indications of undergoing a surgical procedure e.g. taking a tissue sample for diagnosis called ‘biopsy’, relieving chronic pain, remove a swelling or removal of a body organ. There are few complications associated with surgical procedure for example infectivity, unnecessary blood loss, damage to organs or nerves and pain.

Open Surgery:

Open surgical-open surgery involves removing the skin and tissues so that the surgeon has a clear view of the structures or organs involved. Examples of open multiple surgeries are organ removal, such as the gallbladder or the kidneys .Open surgical technique for appendix removal gives a four inches long cut to the abdomen. This large incision allows greater access to the surgeon but it has got few draw backs also. Now days, only few surgeries are performed through open technique. It may result in massive bleeding or trauma to surrounding structures

Laproscopic Surgery:

Laproscopic surgery is also called ‘Minimum-Invasive surgery as it allows a small incision in comparison to open surgery. It has gained popularity over previous few years and is widely practiced all over the world especially in developed countries. This technique has various ports i.e. operating port, camera or telescope port with a maximum size of 10mm.laproscopic surgical procedures include appendectomy, herniotomy or hernioraphy, hysterectomy and cholecystectomy. Only limited number of complications is associated with laparoscopic surgery.

Robotic Surgery:

Robotic-assisted surgery is also a type of minimally invasive procedure that involves small incisions. The difference is that instead of using their hands to manually adjust the camera and tools, the surgeon uses the power and precision of a technologically advanced robot. The surgeon sits at the controller and uses robotic “heads” maneuvering controls during the operation, allowing for more accurate movements. High definition 3-D imagery also enables a better view of the operation.

Difference between Open, Laproscopic and Robotic Surgery:

Fitness for Surgery:

Open technique can be applied on any patient suitable for anesthesia.

Laproscopic surgery cannot be performed on a patient with respiratory diseases and heart diseases.

Robotic surgery used in small, difficult to navigate areas of the body, such as the head and neck, or for gynecological and urological surgery, such as hysterectomy and prostate cancer.

Procedure:                                 

 Open surgery incision is typically at least three inches long but can be much wider, varying from surgery to surgery and the extent of the problem.

In most laparoscopic appendectomies, the surgeons perform 3 small incisions (each 1/4 to 1/2 inch).

Robotic single-incision surgery involves an only incision to be made using the belly button. As a consequence, most patients should expect slight scarring that is barely visible.

Time:

Open surgery is less time consuming.

Laproscopic surgery generally takes more time to complete the procedure.

Robotic surgery usually takes 2 hours. e.g. Robotic prostatectomy usually takes 2-4 hours depending on many factors including the size of the prostate gland and the presence of obesity.

Cost:                                

Open surgery is cheap than laparoscopic approach.

Laproscopic surgery is costly.

Robotic surgery is way more expensive than above mentioned surgeries.

Availability:

Open surgery is available everywhere.

Laproscopic surgery is available only in specific parts of developing countries.

Robotic surgery has also been increasingly embraced by hospitals in the United States and Europe to treat a wide variety of conditions.

Complications:

Open surgery can result in a number of complications ranging from infection to wound disruption and hemorrhage.

Laproscopic surgery has fifty folds less number of complications.

There aren’t seen much of complication with robotic surgery but occasionally we could see loss of blood, as well as possible accidental cuts, tears, puncture wounds, burns or other injuries to organs, tissues, major blood vessels or nerves. Effective also says that defects could involve the loss of a piece of instrument, such as a blade or other thing used during surgery, within the patient’s body.

Post-operative pain:                         

Open surgical procedure causes great pain to the operative site post operatively.

Laproscopic approach causes minimum pain.

Robotic surgery can cause minimal pain.

Hospital stay:

Open surgery requires prolonged hospital stay.

Laproscopic surgery has short hospital stay.

Robotic surgery has short-length stay in hospital.

Recovery:                            

Open approach causes slow recovery.

Laproscopic surgery causes the small wound to heal quickly resulting in rapid recovery.

Robotic surgery leads to speedy recovery because of minimal incision.

Switching of technique: 

Open procedure is never converted into laparoscopic procedure during operation.

Laproscopic may need to be converted into open one in case of hemorrhage.

Open and Laprosopic surgery could be switch to robotic surgery.

Conclusion   

The discussion above shows the major differences between the three surgical procedures. The invention of machines is revolutionized in medical fields. And now preference is given to techniques used by different machines rather than humans. All of the above mentioned surgeries are still practiced, but robotic surgery has brought revolution to this era. Which surgery is better according to your opinion?

https://www.healthline.com/health-news

https://www.beaumont.org/health-wellness/blogs/exploring-surgery-options-open-vs-minimally-invasive

https://www.verywellhealth.com/open-surgery-3157124

https://www.mayoclinic.org