Who is a surgeon?
A surgeon is a trained physician who can perform surgeries. These physicians specialize in evaluating and treating conditions requiring surgeries and physically changing the human body. This profession demands exceptional manual proficiency and fine motor skills to carry out complex procedures needed to investigate diseases, remove or repair damaged tissues, and improve the function or appearance of an organ or body part.
It takes around 13 years to become a general surgeon. In an operating room, surgeons lead a team of doctors and nurses to ensure that a medical procedure goes smoothly. Medical surgery can be of two types—open surgery and minimally invasive surgery.
Open surgery requires an incision into the skin and tissues so the surgeon can see into the body and thoroughly view the structures and organs involved in the procedure. Minimally invasive surgery, on the other hand, does not require large incisions but smaller entry points to make repairs or take tissue samples. Recovery periods for these surgeries are usually shorter than for open surgeries, but not all surgeries have a minimally invasive option.
What are the different types of surgeons and the conditions they treat?
The American College of Surgeons recognizes several surgical specialties, including:
- Obstetricians and gynecologists (OB-GYN): These professionals are involved in medically and surgically treating women's health conditions such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, pelvic organ prolapse, and more.
- Cardiothoracic surgeon: These surgeons operate on organs inside the thoracic cavity, including the esophagus, heart, lungs, and other structures. Thoracic surgery can treat conditions such as aneurysms, coronary artery disease, and lung cancer.
- Gynecological oncologists: These specialists operate on cancers of the female reproductive system, including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, ovarian, and uterine cancer.
- Ophthalmologists: Ophthalmologists can perform eye surgeries to help correct various conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, retinal tears, detached retinas, diabetic retinopathy, strabismus, and vision problems.
- Vascular surgeons: These experts deal with the surgical treatment of diseases affecting the vascular system, including your arteries and veins.
- Oral and maxillofacial surgeons: These surgeons operate on patients dealing with conditions affecting the mouth, jaws, face, and neck. Some of these conditions include misaligned jaws, head and neck cancers, facial trauma, and cleft lip and palate.
- Orthopedic surgeon: These specialists diagnose and treat problems of the musculoskeletal system, including joints, bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. Some of the conditions they treat include arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, hip dysplasia, bone tumors, and more.
- Otolaryngologists: These are experts in addressing ear, nose, and throat conditions, including sinusitis, tonsillitis, obstructive sleep apnea, and head and neck tumors.
- Pediatric surgeons: Pediatric surgeons operate on infants, children, adolescents, and young adults to treat congenital disabilities, tumors, or injuries.
- Colon and rectal surgeons: These are experts at surgically dealing with conditions of the small and large intestines, colon, rectum, anal canal, and perianal area. These specialists can help treat hemorrhoids, colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), rectal prolapse, and more.
- Plastic surgeons: Plastic surgeons help repair, reconstruct, and restore the function or appearance of body parts such as the skin, musculoskeletal system, hand, extremities, breast, and external genitalia for medical or cosmetic purposes.
Some surgical categorizations
Surgeries are identified by their procedure types based on the suffixes used to define them. These include:
-ectomy, such as hysterectomy or appendectomy, refers to surgeries involving the removal of an organ or structure.
-otomy, like laparotomy, describes procedures involving the cutting into an organ or tissue.
-oscopy, like arthroscopy and laparoscopy, involves minimally invasive procedures.
-ostomy, such as colostomy, describes the need for permanent or semi-permanent openings in the body.
-oplasty, like arthroplasty or rhinoplasty, refers to surgeries requiring reconstruction or repair.
Types of surgical procedures
Surgical procedures can be divided based on different factors such as urgency, location, purpose, invasiveness, and techniques.
Depending on the level of urgency, a procedure may be classified as elective, semi-elective, or emergency. Additionally, surgeries can be classified as genitourinary (reproductive and urinary organs), gastrointestinal (digestive tract), hepatic (liver), neurologic (nervous system), nephrotic (kidneys), orthopedic (bones and joints), and others based on their location.
Further, an operation can be exploratory (diagnostic), therapeutic, cosmetic, corrective, or reconstructive based on its objective. In some cases, the purpose could also be amputation or organ transplantation. A procedure may be minimally invasive or necessitate open surgery, depending on the level of invasiveness. Additionally, some patients may need laser surgery, microsurgery, laparoscopic surgery (also known as "keyhole surgery"), robotic surgery, or angioplasty (which involves using a catheter to do surgery via a blood vessel) depending on the instrumentation.
Reasons to see a surgeon
There are different reasons to see a specialist or a general surgeon near you. Some of the standard reasons include the following:
- Medical emergency: You can experience medical emergencies for various reasons like accidents, gunshot wounds, gallstones, hernia, or appendicitis. These require emergency procedures, which surgeons are adept at. Prompt intervention is crucial, as delays can significantly impact recovery and outcomes.
- Doctor recommendations: Your family doctor may recommend surgery if they believe your condition cannot be fixed with a non-surgical treatment option. Accordingly, they will refer you to a surgeon who can give you insights into surgical treatment options. The referral process ensures that you receive specialized care tailored to your specific needs.
- Elective procedures: Elective surgeries involve any procedures that you or your doctor may have scheduled in advance. Some of these surgery examples include hernias or hemorrhoidectomies. These surgeries often provide an opportunity for improved quality of life and may alleviate chronic pain or discomfort.
Different stages of surgical care
Surgeons near you can perform procedures on an inpatient or outpatient basis. They are typically in charge of a surgical team, which includes a surgical assistant, surgical technologist, circulating nurse, cardiac perfusionist, anesthesiologist, and registered nurse. All in all, the surgeon is responsible for preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care.
The main objective of preoperative care is to ensure that the patient is in good health and well-prepared for surgery. This stage could last for a short time or involve extensive preparation, including weight loss, preoperative testing, and waiting for the arrival of an organ for transplant. Although the surgeon may conduct the assessment, nurses most frequently do it in hospitals. The final decision to proceed after reviewing the results rests with the surgeon. Before the procedure, surgeons meet with the patient to address concerns and resolve any queries or concerns.
The period between when a patient is wheeled into the surgery and wheeled out to the recovery room is known as the intraoperative phase.
The procedure will eventually require an incision. For instance, multiple keyhole incisions would be necessary to insert the scope and surgical tools during a laparoscopy. In contrast, an angiography would only need a small incision in the arm or leg. The more common type of surgery, open surgery, involves making a larger incision with a scalpel. The surgeon would wash their hands, wrists, and forearms thoroughly for at least four minutes before donning sterile gloves on both hands.
The surgeon's primary duty during the postoperative period is managing surgical complications. They would review the results with the patient and discuss any positive or negative findings. The surgeon will ensure proper long-term follow-up if a postoperative issue persists.
How do you find top surgeons in Austin, TX?
Are you trying to book an appointment with a surgeon? Do you want to schedule a visit with the best plastic surgeon who is in-network with your insurance plan? If yes, look no further. With Zocdoc, you can find the best surgeons near you in Austin, Texas, and book your appointment in minutes.
Just create a free account on the Zocdoc website and start your search by entering basic details such as symptom or specialty, insurance type, appointment date, and location. A comprehensive list of in-network providers based on your search criteria will appear. You can also get filtered results by updating your Zocdoc account’s insurance information. If you don’t know your insurance plan, you can upload a photograph of your health plan card to the Zocdoc app, and we will identify your likely plan. If you encounter any technical problems, get in touch with our service team. Check out Zocdoc’s patient help center for more insurance-related FAQs.
Each surgeon listed on Zocdoc has a personalized profile. This profile includes their short bios, education details, visit reasons, practice locations, and, most importantly, patient reviews and user ratings.
You can filter providers by gender, the languages they can speak, and whether they treat children. Zocdoc also allows you to book video consultations before you make an in-person visit to help you understand your provider better.
With Zocdoc, you can book appointments with surgeons near you who accept your insurance plan in real time. All appointments made through Zocdoc are accessible, secure, and 100% free!
Stats on surgeons and plastic surgeries in the United States
According to the 2023 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were around 26,370 surgeons actively providing services in the United States, with about 1,680 surgeons employed in Texas.
As per the American Society of Plastic Surgeons report, there were about 15.6 million cosmetic surgeries in 2020, nearly 14% less than in 2019. Similarly, in 2020, around 6.8 million reconstructive procedures were completed (almost a 3% increase from 2019). According to the report, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, facelift, liposuction, and breast augmentation were the top five cosmetic surgical procedures in 2020.
In reconstructive procedures, tumor removal was the top procedure performed yearly, with approximately 5.2 million procedures in 2020. In addition, laceration repair, maxillofacial surgery, scar revision, and hand surgery were among the top five reconstructive procedures performed in 2020. The cosmetic plastic demographic trends from the same report show that around 92% of all cosmetic procedures performed (around 12.4 million total cosmetic procedures) were on females.
Sources
Verywell Health
WebMD[1]
St. George's University
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
American Society of Plastic Surgeons
American College of Surgeons
WebMD[2]
