Home » Health Articles » What is Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS)?
Single-incision laparoscopic surgery or SILS surgery essentially means that the conventional laparoscopic surgery is done via a single instrument or a single port, which is inserted into the navel of the patient.
During the procedure, we take around 2.5 cm incision through the navel and multiple ports along with the scope are inserted coaxially through the same instrumentation. The same surgery, which is done otherwise through the conventional laparoscopic means, is now carried out with immense skill using this particular single device.
All basic and most advanced laparoscopic surgeries are nowadays being done effortlessly through this procedure. This procedure however has a steep learning curve and hence should be performed only after a specific level of skill is attained.
The advantages of single-incision laparoscopic surgery or SIL surgery include – it basically has only a single incision which is hidden inside the deep cut of the navel, so after the surgery, the patient will have minimal or no scar visible. Because there is only one incision involved, the technical risk to internal organ damage or other things is completely negated. Cosmetically, this surgery is much superior to either open or conventional laparoscopic surgery and the pain factor also is tremendously reduced. The only disadvantage that we think in this surgery is the amount of skill and the steep learning curve that is involved, makes this surgery a domain of a few.
Now, we will see how the SIL's port is inserted. After taking a 2.5 cm incision into the navel, a prototype of this port is inserted so that the drum fits exactly, very snugly into the incision. Additionally, 2 or 3 other ports are inserted to allow instrumentation and to prevent air leak. This is how a completed porting will look just before we commence the surgery.