Pancreatitis is a condition that causes inflammation within the pancreas. This condition causes a number of issues, including pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, fever, bloating, and vomiting. In the acute version of pancreatitis, the condition can resolve fairly quickly and won’t require surgery. However, if the condition becomes chronic, the patient can experience malnutrition, extreme weight loss, and other serious symptoms. The pancreas can even be destroyed eventually, resulting in diabetes mellitus.

Pancreatic cancer is ranked as the 4th most common cause of cancer-related deaths among men, and the 5th most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women. Over 37,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year. Because there are no symptoms early on, pancreatic cancer is sometimes not diagnosed until it’s quite advanced. A painless yellowing of the skin (jaundice) is often the only symptom until the cancer is quite advanced. This type of cancer is unique in that it doesn’t respond well to common cancer treatments, like radiation and chemotherapy. However, if the cancer is identified early enough, surgical resection provides a very effective treatment. Even if the cancer isn’t diagnosed until a patient is in the later stages of the disease, surgical resection greatly improves a patient’s quality of life and gives them symptom relief.

Other pancreatic diseases that the team at Association of South Bay Surgeons treats regularly include pancreatic pseudocysts, pancreatic abscesses, and auto-immune pancreatitis.

At Association of South Bay Surgeons, an entire team of radiologists, gastroenterologists, pathologists, and medical and radiation oncologists work together to determine the best-individualized treatment plan for each patient. This includes minimally invasive laparoscopic surgeries, such as laparoscopic enucleation, laparoscopic distal/left pancreatectomy, laparoscopic pancreatic ablation, and laparoscopic and traditional Whipple Surgery (pancreaticoduodenectomy.) The surgeons at Association of South Bay Surgeons served as faculty at Penn State University and UCLA-Harbor and trained other surgeons to perform pancreatic surgery. They also researched and published about pancreatic diseases extensively. All of this makes Association of South Bay Surgeons a team with unparalleled experience.

In laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon needs to create only 3-4 very small incisions in the treatment area to perform the necessary surgery. A gas — typically carbon dioxide — is introduced to the treatment area to expand it for viewing purposes. A laparoscope, a slender surgical tool that combines a telescope and a miniature camera, is inserted through the primary small incision. This gives the surgeon an extremely close-up and detailed view of the interior of the body without the need for major incisions. In the other tiny incisions, the surgeon inserts the surgical tools. This technique allows for surgeons to perform many different types of procedures in the least invasive way possible.

Advanced laparoscopic surgery techniques now allow for surgeons to access nearly any of the body’s organs for surgical treatment. Gallstones, once treatable only by removal of the gallbladder in open surgery, can easily be resolved with the laparoscopic removal of the gallbladder. This cuts the healing time drastically, with many people returning to their usual routine in only 5-10 days. The stomach, intestines, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and female reproductive system can all be accessed through laparoscopic surgery. Most diseases and disorders that require surgical treatment can be treated with laparoscopic surgery.

There is far less trauma to the patient’s skin and muscles with laparoscopic surgery. Also, there is dramatically less bleeding, which greatly helps in recovery. Patients have less pain, which allows them to bounce back from the procedure much faster than they would with an open surgery. Many laparoscopic surgery patients walk around comfortably the same day of their procedure. Since the interior of the abdominal cavity isn’t exposed during surgery, there is also a lower infection rate with laparoscopic surgery. The high quality camera and high magnification allow the surgeon to see the most precise and expansive view of the surgical area possible, enabling them to see issues and potentially identify problems that might be harder to see with traditional open surgery.