There’s a new important use for your belly button.

That seemingly useless part of your anatomy can be peeled back and diseased organs can be slid out through the small hole, making operations safer for seniors.

Minimal invasive surgery is not brand new. Nor are robotics. But they are increasingly at the forefront of many medical procedures.

Surgical robot device markets estimated at $3.2 billion in 2012 are expected to reach about $20 billion by 2019, as next generation devices, systems and instruments are introduced to manage surgery through small parts of the body, rather than large open wounds.

What does this mean for seniors? Much less blood loss, much quicker recovery time and less hospital expense.

Soon, practically all surgery will be done with at least some aspects of robotic surgery, physicians predict.

Of the more than a million gallbladder removals done each year in the United States, nearly three-quarters are laparoscopic. The main reason? Laparoscopic patients can go back to daily activities in a few days, compared with being out about six weeks when they have a full, “old-fashioned” incision.

With a robot-assisted procedure, a patient-side cart stands next to the operating table. Electromagnetic arms provide access to the “ports” (entry spots) selected by the doctor. Metal tubes attached to the arms are inserted through the ports. The visualization and cutting instruments are slid through the tubes into the patient’s body. The surgeon sits at the console manipulating the instruments, which he or she can see through the visualization device. The surgeon has a three-dimensional view of the patient’s body.

Confined space needs what are referred to as “snake shapes” to get access. The snake robots reduce the number of ports needed, for example, to repair the heart.

A surgical team at Oroville Hospital in Oroville, California, for example, in July performed their first “da Vinci single site” cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) through a tiny incision in the patient’s belly button. So the operation was virtually scarless. Oroville Hospital is the only hospital north of Sacramento with the da Vinci system and is said to be the only one that can perform single-site surgeries.

“Neither robotic surgery nor single-incision surgery is new; but combining the two requires special training and special equipment,” said Dr. Randall Skau. “To be one of the first hospitals to offer this technologically advanced surgery demonstrates the hospital’s leadership,” he said with some pride.

The benefits of single-site gallbladder surgery may include virtually scarless results. But more important is that there is minimal pain, low blood loss, a short hospital stay, and high patient satisfaction, a hospital spokesman said.

Amazingly, the operation can be performed in about one hour, with a typical hospital stay of less than 24 hours.

Unlike traditional robotic surgeries requiring three to five small incisions, this new technology allows for the single belly-button incision from which the diseased gallbladder can be removed.

Most people who need to have their gallbladder taken out are candidates for the robotic single-incision surgery. According to the American College of Surgeons, surgery is the recommended treatment for gallbladder pain from gallstones and gallbladders that aren’t functioning.

Each year, more than one million people — many seniors — in the U.S. have their gallbladders removed. Robotic-assisted surgery is also used in gynecological and urological procedures.

Patients over 70 do well after minimally invasive spinal stenosis surgery, also, according to a new study at Toronto Western Hospital, at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Some surgeons have been doing knee replacement surgery through very small incisions. The minimally invasive replacements, however, are more difficult to perform than are standard joint replacements. Also it’s not known if the long-term results are as good.

Recently, surgeons in Europe conducted a multi-center study to compare the effectiveness of the two procedures. Enrolled were 134 people whose ages averaged 70. Some 66 had minimally invasive surgery. The rest had conventional replacement surgery.

The minimally invasive surgery took about an hour longer, because it is more technologically involved. It had less blood loss though. At the four-to six week post-operative visit, those who had minimally invasive operations were in less pain and dealing with normal activities better than those with standard knee surgery. But after one year, there was no significant difference in the two groups.

Joint replacement is called arthroplasty. The most common type is total joint replacement. In that kind of surgery, the whole diseased or damaged knee joint is removed and is replaced by an artificial one (a prosthesis) to restore function.

Knee replacement has certain risks, such as infection and blood clots. Preventions can be taken. But recovery is time consuming.

Age, however, is not a reason to avoid knee surgery. Even osteoporosis patients who are 75 or older seem to benefit, a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine has indicated.

Female knee replacements designed specifically to fit a woman’s knee have been available only in recent years. Before 2006, knee replacements were unisex. But then somebody discovered the surprising fact that men and women are different.

Tait Trussell is an old guy and fourth-generation professional journalist who writes extensively about aging issues among a myriad of diverse topics.

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