O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | M A R C H 2 0 1 5
S U R G E O N S ' L O U N G E
What's the future of minimally invasive surgery?
We still haven't moved the needle far enough in terms of patients
being offered minimally invasive approaches for a variety of con-
ditions. Not every patient is a candidate for a laparoscopic proce-
dure, but we know that the rate of lap colon resection is not
at the level that it could be.
What innovations are you excited about?
Enhanced imaging makes everything we do easier and
safer. One of the biggest areas of future development
will involve doing more therapeutic procedures with an
endoscope. And more procedures will be done through
natural orifices.
As techniques evolve, there has to be a focus on
patient safety. Technology is great, but it has to
be safe.
Absolutely. It has to be safe for patients, but it also has
to be cost effective. We can no longer add the cost of
he Future of Surgery Is Less Invasive
T
Conversation With L. Michael Brunt, MD
L. Michael Brunt, MD, president of the Society of American
Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, is chief of the sec-
tion of minimally invasive surgery in the department of surgery
at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
