Min-Sheng Hospital hosts Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery workshop

In prelude to the first Asian Diabetes Surgery Summit that took place in its facilities, Min-Sheng General Hospital hosted a workshop on Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS) featuring live demonstrations of different weight loss surgical procedures using this technique.

Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS), also referred to as single-port Access (SPA) surgery or laparoscopic endoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) is the latest development in laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is a type of minimally invasive abdominal surgery performed through small incisions, using tiny video equipment to allow the surgeon to see what he is doing on the inside. The abdominal cavity is often inflated with gas in order to provide working space and small surgical tools pass through ports placed through the incisions enabling the surgeon to perform the procedure internally in the same way it would be done through an open incision.

The advantages of laparoscopic surgery stem from the small size of the incisions made during the procedure. Smaller incisions result in less blood loss during surgery, and in smaller wounds that reduce the risk of infection, are less painful, and shorten the recovery time. Other advantages are a better cosmetic effect and patients discharged sooner which lessens overall costs.

Often used for gastrointestinal, gynecologic and urology surgery, laparoscopic surgery has made tremendous progress over the past twenty years, and is now routinely performed for various bariatric (weight loss) procedures. Recent advances in technology have made it possible to reduce the number of entry ports necessary to safely perform this type of surgery, and skilled surgeons are now able to operate by making a single incision in the navel through which they insert the multiple-instrument access port. SILS offers outstanding cosmetic results since the only scar, hidden in the navel, is barely visible, however it has not yet been established whether it significantly adds to the other advantages of conventional laparoscopic surgery.

Surgeons from across Asia and Taiwan who attended the workshop got to see, live from Min-Sheng Hospital’s operating rooms, several types of weight loss surgery (gastric sleeve, gastric bypass) performed using the single incision laparoscopic (SILS) technique.

Min-Sheng General Hospital is a leading center for Bariatric (weight loss) surgery in Asia.

Min-Sheng to handle medical needs of Cathay Pacific Airways foreign crew in Taiwan

Cathay Pacific airways has chosen Min-Sheng General hospital as one of its healthcare providers to treat its crew members when they are in need of medical care while on layover in Taiwan. Cathay Pacific Airways operates over 200 weekly flights between Hong Kong and Taipei, and many of their crew stay in the Taoyuan area when on layover. From now on, if a crew member requires medical attention following a work related incident, or because of a condition having suddenly developed, he or she will find fast and effective treatment at Min-Sheng Hospital by following the channels that have been set up especially for the airline.

Min-Sheng General hospital has been working together with the Australian subsidiary of French Insurance giant AXA, which handles healthcare assistance for Cathay Pacific Airways, to establish the procedures that enable the speedy and cashless handling of the Cathay Pacific crew cases. The International Healthcare Department of Min-Sheng General Hospital is staffed with multilingual personnel that has experience dealing with foreign insurance companies, which makes for smooth and efficient communication between the hospital, the insurance staff in Australia, and the Cathay Pacific crew on the ground.