Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) overview

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Synonyms and keywords: Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery, Single incision laparoscopic surgery, Minimally invasive surgery, Transanal endoscopic microsurgery, Natural orifice surgery consortium for assessment and research, Society of american gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgeons.

Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) Overview
Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an experimental surgical technique whereby "scarless" abdominal and thoracic operations can be performed. A diagnostic or therapeutic procedures can be performed by getting access to the peritoneal cavity or the thoracic cavity through a hollow viscous. NOTES involves passing surgical instruments and a tiny camera through a natural orifice (mouth, urethra, anus, etc.), then the procedure can be performed through an internal incision in the hollow viscous (stomach, vagina, colon, etc.) thus avoiding scars and external incisions through the skin, muscles, and nerves. The patients recover more quickly and experience less pain (visceral pain only instead of visceral and somatic pain) and better cosmesis. The postoperative complications such as wound infections and hernias are significantly reduced.

Animal models and cadavers have been used to demonstrate that NOTES procedures are safe and feasible. Some of the NOTES applications are abdominal cavity screening, internal organs biopsy, appendectomy, cholecystectomy, tubal ligation, gastrojejunostomy, partial hysterectomy, oophorectomy, colorectal resection and trans-esophageal myotomy.

NOTES describes going beyond the margins of a lumen (hollow organ). The word translumenal could be spelled as "transluminal". Analogies are found with nomen, foramen or abdomen which build the corresponding adjective form with an "i" (nominal, foraminal, abdominal) instead of "e".