Aussie surgery technique brings bowel cancer relief

National Nine News Presentation

EXCLUSIVE: Bowel cancer is now the second biggest cancer killer in the country, with alarming statistics revealing around 90 Australians die from the cancer every week.

Up until now, doctors have had no option but the use "open abdominable surgery" to remove tumours. It's a long and painful operation with risks such as excess bleeding and scarring. Now a Sydney surgeon with some clever Aussie technology has resolved the problem using a technique called "hand assisted laparoscopic surgery". hand assisted laparoscopic bowel surgery

Laparoscopic surgery refers to "keyhole" surgery. It avoids the large incision required for traditional "open" surgery, reducing pain, scarring and wound problems, and reduces the length of time required to stay in hospital.

In the past, the laparoscopic technique has not been widely used for operations on the bowel, partly because of the extreme technical difficulty involved. But Dr Simon Chew — based at the Sydney Bowel Bleeding Clinic at Sydney Private Hospital — has developed the technique using a device called the "handport". This allows the surgeon to place one hand inside the abdomen during the surgery ("hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery").

This simple device has greatly improved the safety and ease of the technique. As a result of this, laparoscopic bowel surgery can now be performed safely on any type of bowel disease, no matter how large or complex the problem.

The surgery is performed under general anaesthetic. First, the handport is inserted through a small incision above the pubic bone. An operating camera is inserted through a small cut in the umbilicus. Specialised thin operating instruments are then inserted through a few other small cuts around the abdomen to perform the surgery.

The camera allows all the surgery to be performed with a full close-up view. The surgeon's hand is present to control the blood vessels and identify the problem in the bowel. At the end of the surgery the diseased bowel is removed through the handport and the bowel ends are rejoined.

The exact details of the surgery will vary depending on the nature of the disease and any other health problems. However, laparoscopic surgery can now be used for all types of bowel problems, resulting in less pain and an easier post-operative recovery. For most operations the time in hospital will be only three to six days.

Dr Chew has begun teaching his new surgery techniques to top surgeons around the country.
(Original article published by Channel Nine News network.)

Its Alimentary: New Surgery for Cancer

One of the biggest problems Dr Warwick Adams faces in his line of work is finding the people who need him.

As a colorectal surgeon, he finds that many of the people who actually need his help are just too embarrassed or uncomfortable to talk about their problem.

That is because their chat with Dr Adams will focus on the subject of bowel bleeding and its associated problems, which could be as minor as haemorrhoids but could also be evidence of something as serious as bowel cancer.

"People tend to ignore it and hope it goes away," he said. "Sometimes it does go away. When it doesn't, that's when it's a concern."

Along with Dr Simon Chew, Dr Adams is working at the first clinic dedicated to these problems in Sydney, the Bowel Bleeding Clinic at Ashfield.

"In NSW, there are 2000 deaths per year from bowel cancer," Dr Adams said. "For men and women combined it is the number one cancer killer."

The new clinic has been open for just two months and, during that time, has been giving out free screening kits.

Dr Chew and Dr Adams started working together after the pair developed a new way to conduct bowel surgery.

"It's keyhole bowel surgery, we do it almost exclusively, it's quite unique," Dr Adams said, adding that traditional bowel surgery involved an incision almost from the breast bone to the pubic bone.

"Our technique uses a couple of little nicks for the camera and a small cut near the bikini line," he said. "There's a lot less pain and patients can get home quicker."

And for those who are still put off by the thought of the dreaded colonoscopy, Dr Adams said the procedure was not always necessary, but if it is, there is nothing to feel uncomfortable about. "We understand how sensitive it is and we're very gentle," he said. "We try to put people at ease. We're really anti-embarrassing."

Article as Published in the Inner West Courier - December 2006

Home | About Us| Hospitals| Services |Contact Us