Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery

Women today have more options than ever before for the surgical treatment of gynecologic conditions, with a growing emphasis on minimally invasive procedures – for good reason. Compared to traditional open surgery, minimally invasive procedures offer numerous patient benefits, including:

• Shorter hospital stays, if hospitalization is required – many procedures can be performed in the clinic under local anesthesia.
• Faster recovery and return to normal activities
• Less pain
• Less bleeding
• Less likelihood of developing adhesions (internal scar tissue)
• Less likelihood of bowel obstruction (or other complications)
• More cosmetically appealing due to smaller scars

Minimally invasive gynecologic surgery uses tiny scopes and surgical instruments inserted either through very small incisions – in some cases, even just a single incision – in the abdomen (laparoscopic) or through the vagina (hysteroscopic), eliminating the need to make a large incision in the abdomen.

With the da Vinci surgical robot, our surgeons perform complex laparoscopic procedures including hysterectomies and removal of very large fibroids. The da Vinci surgical robot enables:

• A magnified view of a surgical procedure for the surgeon for increased surgical precision
• Very precise suturing, helping to reduce scarring
• Fewer and smaller incisions than traditional surgical procedures, reducing blood loss and speeding the time to recovery

Minimally invasive surgery can be used for gynecologic conditions and procedures that include:

• Abnormal uterine bleeding
• Adhesions
• Endometriosis
• Ovarian cysts
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Pelvic pain
• Urinary incontinence
• Uterine fibroids of all sizes

da Vinci or Laparoscopy

• da Vinci hysterectomy
• Fibroid removal (myomectomy)
• Ovarian cyst removal
• Excision (removal) of endometriosis
• Sacrocolpopexy – prolapse correction
• Adhesion lysis
• Diagnostic laparoscopy

Hysteroscopy

• Sterilization
• Endometrial ablation
• Endometrial polypectomy
• Myomectomy – MyoSure
• Diagnostic hysterectomy

Vaginal Surgery

• Hysterectomy
• Anterior and posterior repair (Colporrhaphy)
• TOT / TVT sling for urinary incontinence

Other Minimally Invasive Procedures

• Cervical polyp removal (Polypectomy)
• IUD insertion
• Loop electrosurgical excision procedure
• Nexplanon
• Treatment of genital warts
• Tubal ligation reversal

At Baylor College of Medicine, patients benefit from the latest advancements in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery and a leading team of physicians, including Dr. Xiaoming Guan, fellowship-trained in minimally invasive techniques, including robotic surgery and single-incision laparoscopic surgery.