Surgeries

Definitions

As a general rule, a procedure is considered surgical when it involves cutting a person's tissues to treat a disease or injury. Other procedures that do not necessarily fall under this rubric, such as angioplasty or endoscopy, may be considered surgery if they involve "common" surgical procedure or settings, such as use of antiseptic measures and sterile fields, sedation/anesthesia, proactive hemostasis, typical surgical instruments, suturing or stapling. Minimally invasive surgeries are procedures that utilize natural orifices (e.g. most urological procedures), do not penetrate the structure being excised (e.g. endoscopic polyp excision, rubber band ligation, laser eye surgery), or are percutaneous (e.g. arthroscopy, catheter ablation, angioplasty and valvuloplasty).