flexible robots will be able to operate from within
the body, which will create seemingly endless possi-
bilities about the technology's future applications.
Preemptive care
Surgeons will be able to treat diseases before they
cause patients harm. An example: General surgery is
moving toward assessing genetic profiles to target indi-
viduals who are at increased risk of developing gastric
cancer. Those patients could undergo an endoscopic pro-
cedure during which surgeons identify patches of stomach tissue
that are on the cusp of becoming cancerous. Surgeons would then
be able to remove the pre-cancerous tissue and suture the area
closed from inside the stomach. The entire extirpative procedure
would be done endoscopically. That type of preemptive surgery
will become commonplace.
Reallocation of resources
The movement of complex procedures from inpatient to
outpatient facilities will continue as surgical technologies
evolve, surgeons perform surgery less invasively through smaller
incisions and natural orifices, and post-op pain control practices
improve. Much of the outpatient migration will be driven by the
worthy goal of decreasing healthcare expenses through the elim-
ination of costly post-op hospital stays.
That will be only part of the story. We're limiting our focus
on current inpatient procedures that could shift to outpatient
facilities without considering the development of new invasive
2
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J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 5
• DOCTOR DROID Robots
won't replace surgeons, but
they might dramatically
alter how they perform pro-
cedures and provide access
to previously unreachable
anatomy.