General Surgery
Every year, about 15 million Americans* have surgery. The vast majority of these are not immediate, life-or-death procedures. With most general surgeries, you’ll have time to discuss your care and your procedure with our General Surgery team.
General surgeons have extensive, specialized training to diagnose and treat disease and injury. Their experience and knowledge span all phases of surgical care—from the diagnostic to preoperative care, from the actual surgery to postoperative monitoring.
General surgeons focus on surgeries in these primary areas:
- Gastrointestinal tract
- Abdominal organs (including the intestines, esophagus, stomach, colon, liver and gallbladder)
- Breast, skin and soft tissue
- Head and neck, including trauma, vascular, endocrine, congenital disorders and oncologic disorders
- Endocrine system (including thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and endocrine pancreas)
- Vascular system (excluding the heart and vessels in the skull)
- Cancer (screening, therapy, rehabilitation and follow-up)
With today’s minimally invasive surgical techniques, many surgeries that formerly required a large incision now can be done using a series of small cuts. This means less scarring and a quicker recovery. Surgeons use the small incisions to insert a thin tube with a camera (a laparoscope) into the body. Then, they use small tools to do the surgery. Removal of the gall bladder is one example of a common laparoscopic surgery that formerly required a large abdominal incision.
At Pacific Medical Centers, your general surgeon and the professional surgical staff will discuss your procedure with you and answer any questions you may have. You will learn about the procedure itself, anesthesia and recovery. Your surgeon will also work with your primary care provider to coordinate your treatment and continued care.
Our surgeons meet with patients at several of our conveniently located clinics:
- First Hill, Beacon Hill and Northgate in Seattle
- Canyon Park (Bothell)
- Renton
Procedures are performed at Swedish Hospital, considered one of the finest facilities in the Pacific Northwest.
*Source: Agency for Health Care Research and Quality
