General Surgery

The General Surgery department is situated on the second floor of the hospital (elevator 7). Equipped with 31 beds, the ward is able to adapt and change itself according to the necessity of the patients and their ever changing pathologies. The different types of admissions are:
• Outpatient Day Hospital Clinic (only a few hours spent in hospital with typical pathologies such as hernias,  varicose veins)
• Day Surgery (with a recovery in hospital during the day and discharge at night for minor proctology surgeries, inguinal hernias, gallstones)
• One Day Surgery (with an overnight recovery period of 24 hours for pathologies such as complex inguinal hernias, post-laparotomy hernias, major proctology surgery, complex gallstones)

• Ordinary Hospitalization (oncology, urgent/ emergency care, high intensity diseases)
The following specialties are under the General Surgery Department:
• Minimally Invasive and Robotic Oncologic Surgery
• Urology Surgery
• Senology Surgery
• Thoracic Surgery
• Bariatic Surgery
• ENT Surgery.

The department treats all thoracic-abdominal surgical pathologies whether they have to do with cancer,  functional problems, or inflammation. Most surgeries are done with minimally invasive techniques (laparoscopic or thoracoscopic), guaranteeing an identical treatment in terms of efficiency but with an important reduction in post-operative pain.

Maintaining the integrity of the abdominal or thoracic wall, and therefore of the patient as a whole, allows a quicker recovery to everyday life, such as eating and going back to work, as well as a much better aesthetic result. The major diseases treated with these methods are:
• Malignant and benign neoplastic disorders of the stomach and duodenum
• Malignant and benign neoplastic disorders of the colon and the rectum
• Malignant and benign neoplastic disorders, primary and secondary hepato-pancreatic-biliary disorders
Benign pathologies of the bile ducts: gallstones in the gall bladder and bile ducts
• Pathologies of the gastroesophageal junction: hiatus hernia, gastroesophageal reflux, achalasia
• Pathologies of the abdominal wall: primary, secondary, and recurrent inguinal / crural hernias, post-laparotomy
hernias, umbilical hernias
• Infectious / inflammatory gastrointestinal disease: appendicitis, complications from chronic inflammatory
bowel diseases, diverticulitis
• Gynecological disorders: endometriosis of the rectal-vaginal septum
• Diseases related to obesity.

The move towards a less aggressive and invasive surgery, one which is more respectful to the patient's body, has led to dramatic changes in post-operative care and a big decrease in the time spent in hospital. In fact, long periods of bed rest, abstinence from certain foods, and prolonged use of IV drips are no longer necessary.
Patients who receive minimally invasive surgery for gallstones, and inguinal / crural and post-laparotomy hernias are usually mobile the same day, can start with a liquid diet just a few hours after the operation, and in some cases can be discharged from hospital the same day.

This is also due in part thanks to new and innovative anaesthesia techniques. Even patients who undergo major surgery on the gastrointestinal tract using minimally invasive techniques for colorectal resections are treated with these new protocols. Patients are mobile the first day after the operation and are already on a liquid diet defining what the hospital calls the “Fast Track Protocol”.
Available for these qualifying surgical activities the hospital has operating rooms equipped with the most cutting-edge technology. The operating rooms boast the latest generation columns for video surgery, high-performance anaesthesia equipment, and the most recent surgical robot on the world market today: the Da Vinci.
The availability of this type of equipment with these cuttingedge characteristics can therefore offer every patient the most appropriate, modern, and safe surgical treatment adapted to the latest international scientific advancements. Even diseases of the abdominal wall and recurrent, bilateral and post-laparotomy hernias can be treated with laparoscopic and mini-laparoscopic procedures (by incisions of 3 to 5mm maximum). This ensures a quick functional recovery and return to work offering an important advantage over traditional surgery.

For the treatment of minor diseases, such as unilateral primary hernias and varicose veins, the hospital has an outpatient surgery room with a dedicated staff. The personnel, through the adoption of new instruments and advanced equipment (prostheses, latest generation sealants, etc.) permit the patient to have an almost total reduction of pain.

Always within the realm of the General Surgery Department, there are Day Surgery and One Day Surgery services. In these services, doctors can operate using minimally invasive techniques for uncomplicated gallstone surgeries, and postlaparotomy and inguinal hernias. In these cases, patient discharge can be the same day or the day after the operation. Particular attention is also given to proctology and to all of the disorders of the pelvic floor using targeted and innovative treatments which allow a full functional recovery. Some of
these techniques are:
• Hemorrhoidectomy with radio frequency
• Hemorrhoidopexy (Longo's procedure)
• Prolassectomy- STARR

In addition, the patient is followed in every phase thanks to dedicated clinics for first visits, post-operative exams, and for follow-up check-ups.
The department also makes itself available for emergency surgeries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This allows for quick and immediate operations for any urgent surgical problem, both in trauma patients and any other type of surgical pathology from oncological to inflammatory diseases, from the easiest to the most difficult operations.