Hepatology is a specialty that deals with the diagnosis, and treatment of liver diseases. Liver is a major organ that deals with nutrition, lipid control, immunity, removing toxins from your body, therefore a hepatologist can screen and manage patients with fatty liver, viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver disease and whether there is liver damage from significant alcohol or medication use.
Hematology is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. Blood disorders can be acute or chronic and include anaemia, bleeding disorders and blood clots. They can also be inherited, due to disease and side effects of medicines, and from diet deficiencies. Includes the management of bone marrow which produces bone marrow stem cells and other substances; which in turn produce blood cells.
Head & neck surgery is a subspecialty surgical discipline dealing with both benign lumps and cancers found in the upper aerodigestive tract, including skin lumps in the head and neck region. Cancerous lumps and skin malignancies usually require surgery; oftentimes even the lumps that are benign; as they can potentially turn cancerous or cause compression on the vital structures in the upper aerodigestive tract. Ablative surgery carefully done to ensure good clearance of the cancer may have to be accompanied by reliable reconstructive surgery to ensure good recovery of form and function for the patient. As the head and neck region is responsible for form and many functions (swallowing, speech, breathing, etc), surgery in this area can be challenging.
Gynaecology is the branch of physiology and medicine which deals with the functions and diseases specific to women and girls, especially those affecting the reproductive system. Obstetrics deals with all aspects of pregnancy; from prenatal care to post-natal care. An obstetrician delivers babies, and provides therapies like fertility treatment to help a woman get pregnant. Most OB/GYN is trained to do all of these things. Other conditions and issues related include infertility and its associated issues like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and cancers affecting the reproductive organs like the uterus, cervix and ovaries.
Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which diseases of the vascular system, or arteries, veins and lymphatic circulation, are man-aged by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures, and surgical reconstruc-tion. Vascular disease is caused by inflammation and weakness of the veins and arteries; and by the build up of fatty deposits in the blood vessels Often life-saving procedures are unexpectedly needed during a surgery. Surgery is performed to clear blockages in the blood system to pre-vent strokes and aneurysms; usually due to ageing and degeneration. Other reasons for surgery include injury and trauma, conditions like cancer, and diabetes. Angioplasty and stents placement are two ways to open blocked peripheral arteries.
Hepatobiliary surgery includes surgery of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and bile ducts. It is a branch of medicine called hepatology that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases like cancer affecting those organs. Surgery range from liver resection to remove scarring or cirrhosis in the liver; to that of half of a diseased liver. The remaining liver regener-ates itself over a period of time; though re-stricted by the extent of prevailing disease. Thus the criteria for a resection procedure is determined by the level of cirrhosis present. Pancreatic and delicate bile duct repair is also carried out by a hepatobiliary surgeon.
Liver transplant; for patients suffering from end-stage liver disease in which the liver has become damaged beyond repair is carried out by replacement with part of a healthy liver tak-en from a donor during major surgery. Both pa-tient and donor is evaluated and assess via a stringent process overseen by an Ethical Com-mittee. Recovery process can take up to six months or more.
Colorectal surgery is the specialty that deals with diseases of the colon, rectum and anus as well as bowel problems such as constipation and defecation disorders. It is also concerned with the surgical aspects of benign conditions such as haemorrhoids or piles, anal fissures, ab-scesses, diverticulitis and inflammatory bowel disease. Colorectal surgery deals with the removal of cancerous tumors in the colon and rectum; de-tected by colonoscopies. Keyhole or minimally-invasive laparoscopic surgery procedures are commonly used for surgeries of the colon. Sur-gery involves making incisions in the abdomen, through which laparoscopic instruments are in-serted using advanced imaging guidance to re-move tumors.
Removal of an entire section of your colon, known as a colectomy can be performed as an open surgery, where an incision is made in the abdomen, and a section of the colon is re-moved; or by laparoscopic or keyhole method, a minimally-invasive procedure. Robotic option, where the surgical instruments are guided by a robotic system is also available.
Breast surgery is a surgical specialty that in-volves procedures performed on the breast. There are two basic types of surgery to remove breast cancer; lumpectomy (also called breast-conserving surgery, partial mastectomy or wide excision) and mastectomy, where the entire breast is removed. A sentinel lymph node biopsy is a surgical pro-cedure used to determine if cancer has spread into the lymphatic system. The lymph nodes from under the arm are removed if the cancer is shown to have spread. Reconstructive surgery is also an optional pro-cedure to recreate a breast to replace the one that was removed and usually follows a mastec-tomy. A breast implant is inserted or tissue from another part of your body can be used to recre-ate a new breast. Choice is dependent on the cancer staging, the location of the tumor as well as the amount of surrounding tissue that needs to be removed.
General Surgery is a subfield of Surgery which deals with surgical treatment of abdominal or-gans like esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, colon, appendix, bile ducts, rectum and very often, thyroid gland. Procedures can range from a simple surgery such as an appendectomy, to the more delicate and complex liver resection. Breast surgery and skin grafting for burns or injury is also classified as General Surgery, though a Plastic surgeon may also be included to enhance appearance and ability to function.
Gastroenterology is the specialty that focuses on the digestive system and its structure, functions and disorders. These may affect the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, pancreas, gallbladder, liver and rectum. Disor-ders that fall under gastroenterology include appendicitis, divirticulitis, gallstones, gas-troesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcers and stomach cancer.
