General Surgery Program

The General Surgery Department within Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s Digestive Disease Institute is comprised of North American and European board-certified surgeons, who evaluate and treat a wide range of general surgery conditions.

Our surgical services include colorectal surgery, pelvic floor disorders, surgical oncology, hepatobiliary surgery, bariatric and bariatric revision surgeries, hernia and abdominal wall surgery, complex foregut repairs, breast surgeries, gynecomastia surgery, endocrine surgeries, liver and pancreas transplant, as well as general surgical procedures such as appendectomies and gall bladder surgeries.

Our team works closely with experts from many other specialties, offering a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to care, to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients. Our surgeons are experts in minimally invasive procedures, which reduce recovery time, minimize pain and risk of complications, and reduce the amount of time spent in hospital.

We offer many state-of-the-art robotic and technologically advanced surgical procedures, which aren’t widely available in the region. We are one of only a handful of centers offering complex cytoreductive oncology surgeries and robotic surgeries for liver resection, as well as complex laparoscopic, robotically assisted and endoscopic surgeries for bariatric, hernia, foregut and more.

What We Treat

Surgeons from the General Surgery Department perform a wide range of procedures including, but not limited, to:

Acute Care Surgery and Minimally Invasive Surgeries

• Appendectomy
• Biopsies including lymph node biopsies
• Cholecystectomies
• Exploratory surgery
• Lipoma excision
• Melanomas
• Retroperitoneal lymph node excision
• Splenectomies

Breast Surgery

• Benign breast surgery
• Breast biopsy
• Breast cancer surgery
• Breast cancer surgery: lumpectomy and mastectomy
• Gynecomastia (male breast surgery)
• Minimally invasive breast biopsy
• Preventive breast cancer surgery

Complex Foregut and Esophageal Surgery

• Esophagogastric fundoplasty
• Endoscopic internal drainage of fistula after gastrointestinal surgery
• Endoscopic resection and plication for GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disorder)
• Magnetic esophageal sphincter augmentation
• Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy
• Per Oral Pyloromyotomy
• Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF)

Hernia Surgery and Abdominal Wall Repair

• Laparoscopic and open hernia repair (all hernia types)
• Robotic Hernia repair

Colorectal Surgery, Colorectal Oncology Surgery and Pelvic Floor disorders

• Abdominal perianal resections
• Colonoscopies
• Completion proctectomy- formation pelvic pouch; loop ileostomy
• Hemorrhoidectomies and pinodial surgeries
• Laparoscopic proctectomy
• Open Proctectomy with ileal pouch to anal canal anastomosis
• Proctectomy and proctolectomy
• Proctectomy complete with abdominoperineal
• Proctectomy partial resection of rectum transabdominal approach
• Robotic proctectomy
• Transanal total mesorectal excision for rectal cancer

Bariatric Surgeries and Obesity Medicine

• Adjustable gastric band removal
• Adjustable gastric band removal and conversion to Roux-en Y Gastric Bypass
• Gastric Bypass revision surgeries
• Laparoscopic conversion from one anastomosis gastric bypass to Roux-en Y Gastric bypass
• Laparoscopic conversion from sleeve gastrectomy to Roux-en Y Gastric bypass
• Laparoscopic conversion from Sleeve Gastrectomy to SADI-S
• Robotic Gastrostomies

Surgical Oncology

• Cytoreductive surgeries (HIPEC procedure)
• Gastrointestinal malignancies
• Liver resections
• Pancreaticoduodenectomies
• Peritoneal carcinomatosis
• Radio frequency ablation (RFA) for liver tumors
• Whipple procedures

Hepaticopancreaticobilliary (HPB) Surgeries and Liver surgeries

• Hepatectomy (laparoscopic, robotic, partial or complete left or right)
• Liver resections
• Pancreaticoduodenectomies
• Radio frequency ablation (RFA) for liver tumors

Endocrine Surgery

• Adrenalectomy
• Parathyroidectomy
• Thyroidectomy

Liver and Pancreas Transplant Surgery

• Cadaveric liver transplant
• Living donor liver transplant
• Pancreas transplant

Diagnosis & Treatment

Diagnosis for General Surgery

Patients who come to the General Surgery Department will have been referred by either their primary care physician or by another hospital seeking the advanced surgical expertise and state-of-the-art procedures we are able to offer.

Patients may also be referred from another specialty within Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, where they will have benefited from cutting-edge diagnostic approaches to ensure a swift and accurate diagnosis.

Treatment with General Surgery

Our General Surgery Department evaluates and treats a wide range of routine and complex general surgery problems. Our surgeons work collaboratively with experts from a range of specialties, ensuring the optimal treatment of each patient.

Treatment covers the following areas:

• Surgery for Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Diseases: This includes the surgical management of gallbladder disease, cancer, portal hypertension, appendicitis, diabetes, infections, peptic ulcer disease, small intestine cancer, stomach cancer, and cystic diseases.
• Laparoscopic Surgery: Minimally invasive surgeries include cholecystectomy, hernia repairs (including hiatal hernia), adrenalectomy, antireflux surgery, lymph node biopsy, splenectomy, digestive disease surgery, surgery for achalasia, diagnostic laparoscopy and other advanced procedures.
• Surgery for Upper Gastrointestinal and Small Bowel Disorders: We provide endoscopic evaluation and surgical treatment for a range of disorders, including ulcers, hiatal hernia, achalasia, Barrett's Esophagus, gastritis, GI bleeding, gastroparesis, GERD and reflux as well as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).
• Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC): A procedure to surgically remove certain cancers in the abdomen, followed by the application of heated chemotherapy drugs inside the abdomen to kill remaining cancerous cells.
• Colonoscopy: The gold standard, recommended method for screening for colorectal polyps.
• Gastric pacemaker.
• Bariatric Surgery: Including gastric bypass surgery for weight loss, gastrointestinal surgery for severe obesity, weight loss surgery, LAP-BAND, treatment for metabolic syndrome and obesity, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG).
• Breast Surgery: Including breast medical oncology and reconstruction, as well as cutting-edge therapeutic and surgical breast cancer treatments.
• Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.