New Surgical Options for Women

Minimally invasive GYN services at Inova Fair Oaks provide many benefits

Inova Fair Oaks offers a wide range of minimally invasive gynecological services for women. These range from interventional radiology to treat fibroids, to robotic-assisted or laparoscopic surgeries involving incisions as small as 5 mm — less than the length of a grain of rice.

These services provide many advantages over traditional, open procedures. Possibly the most readily apparent advantage to patients is that these procedures in the hands of experts, take less time, both for the procedure itself and recovery.

“Normally patients leave within hours of the surgery, and most go home to have dinner because they can,” says Lynne Kennedy, PhD, RN, Program Coordinator of Women’s Services, Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. “Many of our patients even go shopping the day after surgery.”

In addition to the convenience, recovery is easier and faster because the amount of blood lost in a minimally invasive procedure is often less than would be taken in an average blood test. Most patients feel little pain and don’t even need pain medication after they leave the hospital. And because the incisions are smaller, wounds heal faster and leave much smaller scars.

The low complication rate is another plus: the rate at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital for minimally invasive gynecology surgeries is 1.05 percent; worldwide, it’s 15.3 percent.

Learn more about women’s services at Inova at inova.org/gyn