Public Health in Arizona

Jessa Miles

Professor Fugal

Intro to Public Health

13 Nov. 2012

Most Common Surgeries

            For this assignment, I decided to investigate surgical trends due to my high interest and aspirations to become a general surgeon. I interviewed Dr. Greg Rula, a general surgeon from Arizona who works at Banner Desert Hospital, and is a previous chief of staff and a Phoenix  Top Doctor. After the interview, I was able to learn more about what surgeries are most commonly done and the group of people who are most affected.

            The most common surgery I learned about is called a Lap Chole.  This surgery entails the removal of the gall bladder. The surgeon uses laparoscopic instruments to remove the organ instead of fully opening the body cavity. This provides the patient with a less invasive procedure and a quicker recovery (generally 1-2 weeks). It also means less scaring for the patient. This procedure is very common for obese patients, generally Caucasian or American Indian.

            A non laparoscopic gall bladder removal surgery is the second most common surgery. It is similar to a Lap Chole, but is not as minimally invasive. It requires at least a 5-7 inch cut into the cavity. After removing the gall bladder, the surgeon must sew up the entire incision, leaving much more scaring and requires a much longer healing period (about 3-4 weeks). This surgery is also common among obese Americans.

            Next on the list is a hernia repair surgery. This surgery can be done several different ways, depending on the location of the hernia. The two most common are inguinal and umbilical hernias. The surgeon must put the protruding tissue back in its place (or remove it if it has died) and secure the damaged tissue using a mesh. The mesh then dissolves and turns into a synthetic tissue that prevents the weak spot from re opening. This procedure is usually common in obese patients, but can be equally common in healthy adults.

            A thyroidectomy was third most common surgical trend. This surgery is the removal of the partial or whole thyroid.  It is most commonly necessary when the person has thyroid cancer. A thyroidectomy can take anywhere from 45 minutes to two or three hours, depending on how easy it is to access and how much needs to be removed. It requires about a two-inch incision and is not common among any specific group of people.

            The last of the five trends is a breast biopsy. This procedure is so common because of how prevalent breast cancer is. During the procedure, the surgeon makes about a two-inch incision and inspects the tumor or lump. He then cuts off a piece of it, and places it into a container to send to pathology. There, they find out whether or not the tumor/lump is cancerous. This surgery is not specifically common among any certain group of people.

            From this experience, I was able to learn much more about general surgeries performed in Arizona and how they affect the health of the community. I was also interested to find out that certain groups of people were more prone to needing the surgeries than others. The most commonly affected group of people is the obese population in Arizona. This is not surprising, since obesity causes many ailments of the body other than just excess fat. Completing this research was both a fascinating and educational opportunity for me, and will definitely affect my future career.