Consultation Hours & Appointments:

Tuesdays,
09:00 Uhr - 12:00 Uhr

Prof. Dr. med. F. Benedix

Tel.: 0391/67-15529

Minimally invasive surgery is an important focus of our clinic. This is often also referred to as "keyhole surgery". The operation is performed through several small skin incisions (5 - 12 mm) using video-endoscopic techniques.

The advantages of this surgical approach are considered to be the better overview during the operation, the smaller wounds, and the shorter recovery phase after the operation. The latter thus shortens the hospital stay. The smaller wounds have - besides the better cosmetic result - the advantage of a lower need for painkillers after surgery as well as the lower risk of wound infection or wound healing disorder. Similarly, the risk of scar rupture is lower. This is particularly important in overweight patients. The surgeon's lack of sense of touch and the sometimes technically higher degree of difficulty are considered disadvantages.  

Minimally invasive techniques are also increasingly being used for malignant diseases. Studies have shown that the oncological outcome is comparable to the open technique, provided the surgeon has the necessary experience. In our clinic, each patient is examined individually to determine the extent to which the upcoming operation can be safely performed using minimally invasive techniques. 

The following operations are usually performed with the minimal- invasive technique at the Clinic for General, Visceral, Vascular and Transplant Surgery at Magdeburg University Hospital:

• Appendectomies (appendectomies)
• Gall bladder removals (cholecystectomies)
• Inguinal hernia operations (especially recurrent and bilateral hernias)
• Incisional hernia operations
• Operations for inflammations or benign diseases of the intestine
• Operations for pathological obesity
• Operations for diaphragmatic hernia and reflux disease
• Removal of esophageal diverticula
• Cardiomyotomy (for achalasia)
• Operations for perforated gastric ulcers
• Removal of diseased adrenal glands
• Removal of spleen
• Liver cyst unroofing
• Placement of feeding catheters (into the stomach or small intestine)

In addition to these procedures, our clinic also performs minimally invasive surgery in selected cases for tumor diseases in the area:

• of the esophagus
• of the stomach
• the liver
• the colon and
• of the rectum.

Single Port Chirurgie

As a highly innovative surgical procedure in minimally invasive surgery, we have also been offering surgical procedures using the single-port technique for several years. Instead of 3 to 5 skin incisions at different locations, as in conventional "keyhole surgery", only one opening is used for the operation. This requires only a skin incision of about 2-3cm for access, through which all instruments can then be inserted together. This is done in the depth of the navel, i.e. a "scar" that is already present from the beginning. The course of the main procedure remains identical. At the end of the operation, the small opening is closed, thus usually reduced even further and then sinks almost invisibly into the depth of the navel.

The main advantage of this special technique is an almost invisible scar after the operation and thus cosmetically produces high-quality result. Nevertheless, the safety of the surgical procedure is paramount, which we can also guarantee here without further ado.

We can offer single-port surgery for the removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy), the appendix (appendectomy), and for benign diseases of the bowel, such as diverticular disease (sigmoid diverticulosis) or familial adenomatous polposis (FAP).