Exploratory liver laparoscopy is a less invasive way to diagnose liver disease. The alternative to this minimally invasive procedure is an open surgical biopsy, which can require the patient to be under general anesthesia for twice as long and can take at least a week for the patient to recover. Although the technology for surgeons to perform exploratory liver laparoscopy has existed at Saint Louis University Hospital for several years, the new operating rooms pull together this technology in a more precise way that is easier for surgeons and the surgical team to use, which in turn benefits patients. Exploratory liver laparoscopy is just one of many minimally invasive surgeries that can now be performed more precisely in the new SLU Hospital OR1s. Instead of making a large incision to expose a patient's internal organs, surgeons can now make a few small incisions totaling about an inch.
Surgeons manipulate their instruments through other small incisions.
SLU Care surgeons of several disciplines use the OR1 suites. Keith S. Naunheim, MD, cardiothoracic surgery, uses the suites to perform less invasive, yet highly complex surgeries in the chest cavity and esophagus. Vascular surgeon Donald Jacobs, MD, uses the rooms to insert stent grafts for abdominal aortic aneurysms as well as blocked arteries in the arms and legs. Neurosurgeons Richard D. Bucholz, MD, FACS, and Jaimie Henderson, MD, use the new OR1s for precise, image-guided surgeries on the brain and nervous system to treat tumors, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and chronic pain. Saint Louis University Hospital is part of the Tenet Healthcare Saint Louis system.