General Surgery
General surgery as a specialty encompasses a wide variety of procedures as the treatment of disease, injury or other disorders. This may include further exploring the condition to make a diagnosis, taking a biopsy of a suspicious lump or removed diseased tissues or organs. In addition, your doctor may perform surgery to remove an obstruction, reposition structures to their normal position, redirect channels, or transplant tissue or whole organs. You may need surgery to implant mechanical or electronic devices; improve physical appearance; repair an area that has been injured or affected by trauma, overuse, or disease; restore proper function; or relieve pain.
General Surgery Providers
General surgery includes a variety of surgical procedures to treat a broad range of health problems and diseases. Most procedures can be done either laparoscopically or robotically. In this way, surgery is performed through one or more small incisions.
Dr. Fernandez is committed to treating a comprehensive array of surgical issues. Listed below are the common procedures performed by Dr. Fernandez.
- Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal)
- Ventral/Umbilical Hernia Repair
- Inguinal Hernia Repair
- Complex Hernia Repair (Abdominal Wall Reconstruction)
- Surgery for GERD
- Adrenalectomy
- Appendectomy
- Breast Biopsies, lumpectomies, and mastectomies
- Colon and Small Bowel Surgery
- Hemorrhoidectomy
- Epigastric, Femoral, Hiatal, Paraesophageal, and Spigelian hernias
- Laparotomy and Exploratory Laparoscopy
- Nissen Fundoplication
- Parathyroidectomy
- Pilonidal Cystectomy
- Port Placement, Replacements and Removals
- Removal of Cysts, Lesions and Tumors
- Splenectomy
- Temporal Artery Biopsy
- Thyroidectomy
Robotic surgery offers quick recovery and usually causes less post-operative pain. For example, after a large complex abdominal hernia repair (abdominal wall reconstruction) done by the open approach, most patients take a month or two to recover before they feel like they can get back to day-to-day activities.
After a large complex hernia repair performed through the robotic approach, most patients feel like they can return to day-to-day activities in less than 2 weeks. Not all patients are candidates for robotic surgery. However, each patient is evaluated individually and is offered the best surgical option.
Dr. Fernandez is a pioneer in robotic surgery. On April 8, 2013, Dr. Fernandez performed his 100th robotic cholecystectomy. He was the first surgeon in Alabama to reach this milestone.
Dr. Fernandez currently performs advanced laparoscopic techniques such as robotic appendectomies, cholecystectomies, hernia repairs, and abdominal wall reconstructions (complex abdominal hernia repairs).
Dr. Fernandez is the only general surgeon in Alabama performing abdominal wall reconstruction robotically.