Surgery

Generally speaking, surgical procedures involve cutting or otherwise penetrating the body’s tissues. There are many different types of surgery. All have benefits, risks and possible side effects.

Ask your doctor or surgeon for more information to help you decide about treatment. This is known as ‘informed consent’. Your health professional has a duty to explain the kind of operation you will undergo and any other options that are available to you. They should also clearly explain about any dangers and risks. If in doubt, seek a second opinion.

The aim of surgery

Surgeries can be grouped according to their purpose. For example:

• Diagnosis – surgery can establish whether a person has a particular illness, disease or condition. Diagnostic surgery may be recommended when the person has signs that something may be wrong – for example, they may report unusual symptoms. An example of diagnostic surgery is a breast lump biopsy.
• Prevention – the removal of tissue to stop a disease from happening. An example of this type of surgery is an operation to remove bowel polyps that may turn cancerous if left untreated. This type of surgery is also called prophylactic surgery.
• Ablation – means the surgical destruction (ablation) of tissue.
• Reconstruction – the aim is to restore use (such as knee reconstructive surgery) or improve appearance (such as breast reconstruction following mastectomy). Sometimes, reconstructive surgery achieves both. For example, a cleft palate repair enhances the person’s appearance and also improves their ability to eat, swallow and talk.
• Transplantation – this is surgery to replace a body part that no longer works properly: for example, a hip replacement or a lung transplant. The part may be artificial (made from silicone, stainless steel or titanium) or natural (donated from an organ donor).
• Palliative care – the aim is to reduce pain, control symptoms and improve quality of life when there is no chance of cure. An example of this type of surgery is nerve resection to stop a person from feeling constant pain.

Emergency or planned surgery

Surgery is part of a continuum of care and is often defined as either ‘emergency’ or ‘planned’ surgery.

• Emergency surgery is surgery to treat trauma or acute illness following a presentation to an emergency department, or an emergency admission directly to the ward.
• Planned surgery (also known as elective surgery) refers to planned surgical procedures that can be booked in advance.

Patients requiring planned surgery in the public system are added to a waiting list and assigned a category (1, 2 or 3) to reflect the clinically recommended waiting time for their specific procedure.

Find out more about planned surgery.

The seriousness of surgery

All surgery carries risk to the person. The factors that determine the degree of risk include the body part that is affected, the seriousness of the medical condition, the extent of surgery, the complexity of surgery and the expected recovery time. Categories include:

• Major surgery – such as surgery to the organs of the head, chest and abdomen. Examples of major surgery include organ transplant, removal of a brain tumour, removal of a damaged kidney or open-heart surgery. The person will need to stay in hospital for some time. The risk of complications may be high and the person will take a longer time to recover.
• Minor surgery – presents a low risk of complications and fast recovery time. Examples of minor surgery include sewing up a cut or biopsy of a breast lump.

The surgical approach

Surgeries can be categorised by broad technique. For example:

• Open surgery – the traditional approach. The surgeon makes a large single incision to access the internal organs. An example is open-heart surgery. Open surgery of the abdominal cavity is known as laparotomy.
• Keyhole surgery – the surgeon makes several small cuts (incisions) instead of one large one. Slender surgical instruments are passed through these incisions, including a laparoscope. This is a special viewing tube fitted with a light so the surgeon can see the internal organs. For this reason, keyhole surgery is also known as laparoscopic surgery.

Where to get help

• Your GP (doctor)
• Your surgeon
• Your nearest hospital emergency department
• In an emergency, call triple zero (000)
• NURSE-ON-CALL Tel. 1300 60 60 24 – for expert health information and advice (24 hours, 7 days)