Sanket Srinivasa is a general surgeon specialising in Upper GI and Liver/Pancreas/Biliary Surgery with specialist expertise in minimally invasive (laparoscopic/robotic) surgery. He is New Zealand's only hepatobiliary (HPB) surgeon with formal robotic fellowship training and offers Robotic/ Laparoscopic HPB Surgery in conjunction with his colleagues at Harbour Surgery Centre. Sanket offers urgent appointments if requested and can offer surgery semi-acutely when appropriate (e.g. urgent cholecystectomy).
Sanket consults from multiple locations in Auckland (see on the left) and his surgery is performed at Southern Cross North Harbour (North Shore), Kakariki Hospital (Central), Brightside Hospital (Central) and Franklin Hospital (South).
Sanket also works as a consultant surgeon at North Shore Hospital and is a Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Auckland. For further details, visit www.surgeon.co.nz
What is General Surgery?
The role of the general surgeon varies, but in broad terms general surgery can be said to deal with a wide range of conditions within the abdomen, breast, neck, skin and, in some cases, vascular (blood vessel) system.
While the name would suggest that the focus of general surgery is to perform operations, often this is not the case. Many patients are referred to surgeons with conditions that do not need surgical procedures, but merely require counselling or medical treatment.
What is an HPB/Upper GI Surgeon?
HPB stands for 'Hepatopancreaticobiliary' and encompasses diseases of the liver (hepato), pancreas (pancreatico) and biliary system. Upper GI (Gastrointestinal) refers to the oesophagus, stomach and small intestine. An HPB/ Upper GI surgeon specialises in the treatment of these diseases (e.g. gallstones, pancreas cancer, liver cancer, reflux etc). HPB/Upper GI is a subspecialty area of General Surgery and this training is usually acquired over several years after completing specialist training as a General Surgeon. In Sanket's case, this training was acquired by working in New Zealand, UK and USA.
What is Laparoscopic Surgery?
Laparoscopic (or keyhole) surgical procedures are performed through several small cuts (incisions) usually only 5-10mm long, rather than through one large incision.
A long, narrow surgical telescope (laparoscope) that has a tiny camera and light source attached, is inserted through one of the incisions so that the surgeon can view the inside of the body on a TV monitor.
The surgeon then passes specially designed surgical instruments through the other incisions and carries out the procedure using the TV monitor to guide the instruments.
Laparoscopic surgery is usually associated with less blood loss during surgery and less pain and scarring following surgery. In most cases, time spent in hospital is less and overall recovery time from the operation is less than with conventional open surgery.
What is Robotic Surgery?
Robotic surgery is advanced technology which builds upon the advantages of laparoscopic surgery and can allow complex operations (e.g. operations for pancreas or liver cancer) to be completed in a minimally invasive manner. It is also particularly useful for incisional hernia repair (hernias that have developed after previous surgery) as it allows for surgery without a big incision. This technology is commonplace overseas but not widely available in NZ yet. Dr Srinivasa is trained in the discipline of Robotic Surgery and will recommend it to patients when appropriate.
For further details, visit www.surgeon.co.nz
