General Surgery Conditions & Treatments

Our general surgery team provides expert care for both urgent surgical emergencies and planned procedures, offering 24/7 acute care services alongside comprehensive evaluations and advanced surgical treatments for a wide range of conditions.

Who We Treat

Because we treat problems that can develop suddenly and quickly, we often see patients who have come in through the Emergency Department for treatment of acute pain, via our dedicated Acute Care Surgery service. The other side of our program is our Elective General Surgery service, for people suffering from conditions that require surgical treatment, but whose symptoms are controlled enough that they don’t need surgery immediately.

Acute Care Surgery

To give the best care possible for people with acute surgical problems or trauma, the Department of Surgery at Columbia created the dedicated Acute Care Surgery team. One of the first such teams in the nation and the first in the New York metropolitan area, this group is available 24/7 to perform emergency general surgery, trauma surgery, and surgical critical care, as well as elective general surgery.

Elective General Surgery

Our elective general surgery service sees patients in our clinic offices for a comprehensive initial evaluation and physical exam. We typically see people who are experiencing pain in their abdomen and who have either come to us directly or been referred to us by another doctor. If you’ve already had lab tests or scans to investigate your symptoms, we’ll review them together. If not, we may order additional tests to determine your best treatment plan. If surgery is needed, we’ll find a convenient time to schedule it and make sure you’re well prepared for a quick recovery.

Conditions We Treat

Conditions we frequently care for include:

• Appendicitis
• Gallbladder disease (Cholecystitis)
• Hernias
• Spleen Disorders
• Major skin infections
• Other intra-abdominal emergencies

Learn more about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of these conditions by reading the educational health guides linked to above.

Treatments We Offer

We provide a variety of surgical treatments including:

Elective Surgery Procedures

• Appendectomy
• Gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy) and exploration of the common bile duct
• Removal of soft tissue masses, like lipomas and sebaceous cysts
• Removal of the spleen (splenectomy)
• Abdominal wall and inguinal hernia repairs
• Large intestine surgery (colectomy) for benign intestinal disease like C. Difficile colitis, volvulus, and diverticulitis
• Small intestine surgery (lysis of adhesions) for small bowel obstruction
• Management of enterocutaneous fistulae
• Minimally invasive, laparoscopic, and robotic surgery options

Emergency Surgery Procedures

• All of the above, with specialization in minimally invasive emergency surgery
• Repair of gastric or duodenal perforations from peptic ulcer disease
• Incision and drainage for skin infections and abscesses
• Management of simple and complex wounds
• Management of necrotizing soft tissue infections
• Tracheostomy
• Gastrostomy tubes
• Management of abdominal bleeding
• Trauma
• Needle aspiration and chest tube management for pneumothoraces
• Management of sepsis

Learn more about these tests and procedures by reading our Approaches to Acute and General Surgery educational health guide.