Contemporary medicine is redefining the way many oncological interventions are approached. Increasingly minimally invasive techniques, greater attention to the psychological impact of treatments and the desire to reduce recovery times are driving a new phase of surgery. An important result obtained in Italy is part of this scenario, destined to change the approach to breast cancer surgery.
In fact, the first endoscopic mastectomy in Italy without general anesthesia was carried out at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome, an innovative operation that allowed a patient to undergo the operation while remaining awake and return home within a single day.
A new frontier in breast cancer surgery
The operation was performed at the Breast Unit of the Tor Vergata University Hospital, led by surgeon Oreste Claudio Buonomo, and represents a real turning point in breast surgery.
The patient underwent an endoscopic mastectomy with local-regional anesthesia, a technique that anesthetizes exclusively the area affected by the operation. Throughout the procedure the woman remained conscious, monitored by the medical team and assisted by a targeted anesthetic system.
This approach allows you to avoid general anesthesia and intubation, reducing stress on the body and promoting faster recovery in the post-operative period. For many patients, especially those with delicate clinical conditions, this modality can represent a particularly advantageous option.
The operation also included the removal of breast tissue with endoscopic technique and reconstruction procedures, demonstrating how technological innovation and oncological surgery can integrate to improve both therapeutic efficacy and quality of life.
Minimal incisions and no visible scars on the breast
One of the most innovative elements of the procedure concerns surgical access. The mastectomy was performed through a small incision of about three centimeters in the armpit, used to introduce endoscopic instruments and a microcamera that allows surgeons to operate with great precision.
Thanks to this technique, the removal of breast tissue occurs without direct incisions on the breast. The result is an operation that preserves the external appearance of the breast, avoiding visible scars and limiting trauma to the tissues.
In fact, endoscopy allows you to work extremely accurately, maintaining the same oncological safety standards as traditional surgery but with a much smaller impact on the body.
Discharge in 24 hours and faster recovery
The benefits of the procedure emerge especially in the post-operative phase. In the case treated in Rome, the patient was able to leave the hospital within 24 hours of the operation, a very short hospital stay for this type of surgery.
The use of local-regional anesthesia and the endoscopic technique reduces post-operative pain and accelerates the recovery of normal functions. This approach could encourage the development of so-called fast-track surgical pathways, with shorter hospitalizations and a quicker return to everyday life.
The result obtained by the Tor Vergata Polyclinic therefore represents an important step for Italian oncological surgery, which increasingly focuses on solutions capable of combining therapeutic effectiveness, technological innovation and patient well-being.
The intervention also inaugurates a clinical research protocol aimed at evaluating the benefits of this technique on a larger number of selected patients. The objective is to demonstrate how minimally invasive surgery can reduce the physical and psychological impact of mastectomy without compromising the effectiveness in treating breast cancer.
The direction taken by medicine now appears clear: oncological treatments that are increasingly precise, less traumatic and aimed at restoring patients to a normal life in the shortest possible time.
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