General surgery
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robot Adding: [[mk:Општа хирургија]]
''This page is about the surgical specialty. For the goregrind band, see [[General Surgery (band)]]''
''<sup>[[Image:Surgeon.jpg|thumb|250px|A surgeon operating]]</sup>''
'''General surgery,''' despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on [[abdominal]] organs, e.g. [[intestine]]s including [[esophagus]], [[stomach]], [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]], [[liver]], [[gallbladder]] and [[bile duct]]s, and often the [[thyroid]] gland (depending on the availability of head and neck surgery specialists) and [[hernia]]s.
==Scope==
With the prevalent trend for increasing sub-specialisation in today's medical practice, General Surgery has somewhat lost some of its former glory and scope. Nonetheless, it continues to be a competitive, rewarding and highly demanding specialty in its own right. Until recently, all surgeons had to have gained fellowship in the College of General Surgeons (or such equivalent) in order to progress into further sub-specialty training. However, recently, the College of Surgeons has been divided into separate sub-branches, whereby Fellowship in General Surgery is not necessarily required, but may well be desired - depending on the country and centre of practice, as well as the individual sub-specialty.
Certain sub-specialties are still part of the General Surgical training program. That is, General Surgeons may subspecialise into one or more of the following disciplines:
===[[Breast surgery]]===
In Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, general [[surgeon]]s are responsible for [[breast]] care, including the surgical treatment of [[breast cancer]]. In some other countries, breast care falls under [[Obstetrics and gynecology]].
===[[Trauma surgery]]===
In the United States, the overall responsibility for trauma care falls under the auspices of general surgery, some general surgeons obtaining advanced training and specialty certification in this field alone. A General Surgeon must be able to deal with any surgical emergency. Often they are the first port of call to a critically ill patient, and must perform a variety of procedure to stabilise a patient, such as [[craniotomy]], [[cricothyrotomy]] and chest draining procedures.
===[[Colorectal surgery]]===
Involves evaluation and treatment of complaints from the lower intestinal tract - the large bowel, rectum and anus. A large part of this care involves management of [[Colorectal cancer]], as well as more trivial ailments such as [[Hemorrhoids]].
Surgical management of conditions involving the esophagus, stomach, liver, spleen, gall bladder. [[Cholecystectomy]], the surgical removal of the gall bladder, is one of the most common surgical procedures done world-wide.Upper gastro intestinal surgery may be done as emergencies like perforated duodenal ulcers, or acutely inflammed gall baldders or as elective
operations such as cancer of stomach.
Though this type of surgery was popular by open surgery, nowadays it is replaced mostly by key hole or laparoscopic surgery . Using the key hole approach, the incisions are much smaller( 1 cm or less in the place of 15 cm long incisions), the scars are less painful , there is less stay in the hospital with early return to normal activity. Key hole surgery especially in the upper gastro intestinal tract causes less of chest complications as patients breathe better after surgery with minimal pain.
===[[Endocrine surgery]]===
Specialising in surgical removal of endocrine glands - most commonly the [[thyroid]], the [[parathyroid glands]] and [[adrenal glands]].
===[[Transplant surgery]]===
A transplant surgeon must be ready at any time, when called to harvest organs from a suitable donor. Transplantation of organs must be done as quickly and as meticulously as possible to optimise the chances of a successful transplant.
===[[Vascular surgery]]===
Historically, [[Vascular surgery]] was part of the General Surgical program, although recently it has formed its own college. Nonetheless, vascular trainees must complete are certain number of General Surgical terms.
In addition to the above, a General Surgeon may deal with a plethora of less emergent procedures- depending on the training of the Surgeon. Procedures such as treatment of [[varicose veins]], [[circumcision]], [[vasectomy|vasectomies]] and [[skin cancer]] removal are often done by General Surgeons. This is especially the case in rural areas, where sub-specialist level care is not always available.
==Trends==
In the last few years [[minimally invasive surgery]] has become more prevalent. Considerable enthusiasm has built around [[robotic surgery]] (also known as ''robotic-assisted surgery''), despite a lack of data suggesting it has significant benefits that justify its cost.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lunca S, Bouras G, Stanescu AC |title=Gastrointestinal robot-assisted surgery. A current perspective |journal=Romanian journal of gastroenterology |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=385–91 |year=2005 |pmid=16400356 |doi=}}</ref>
==Training==
In Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States general surgery is a five-year [[resident (medicine)|residency]] and follows completion of [[medical school]], either (MD, MBBS, MBChB, etc) or (DO) degree. Following [[high school]], it takes approximately thirteen years to make a [[medical license|fully licensed]] general surgeon (four years [[undergraduate]] training, four years medical school and five years residency). In the United States, board certification by the [[American Board of Surgery]] is also required upon completion of training for a general surgeon to have operating privileges at most hospitals.
===Subspecialization===
In many countries general surgery is a prerequisite for [[subspecialty|subspecialization]] in:
* [[vascular surgery]]
* [[thoracic surgery]]
* [[cardiac surgery]]
* [[plastic surgery]]
==References==
<references/>
==See also==
*[[Surgery]]
*[[Abdominal surgery]]
*[[Surgeon]]
*[[Physician]]
*[[Traumatology]]
==External links==
*[http://www.asgbi.org.uk/ Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland]
*[http://www.facs.org/ American College of Surgeons]
*[http://www.aamc.org/students/cim/pub_surgery.htm Careers in Surgery] - [[Association of American Medical Colleges]].
*[http://www.generalsurgeonsaustralia.com.au/ General Surgeons Australia]
{{General_surgery}}
{{Medicine}}
[[Category:General surgery| ]]
[[Category:Surgical specialties]]
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</sup>''
[[ca:Cirurgia general i digestiva]]
[[eu:Kirurgia orokor]]
[[ko:일반외과]]
[[it:Chirurgia generale]]
[[mk:Општа хирургија]]
[[ne:साधारण शल्यचिकित्सा]]
[[pl:Chirurgia ogólna]]
[[pt:Cirurgia geral]]
[[tr:Genel cerrahi]]