Guidelines in Practice: Minimally Invasive Surgery

During minimally invasive surgery (MIS), surgeons create small and percutaneous incisions to access internal structures without open surgical incisions. Some MIS equipment is complex and challenging for perioperative nurses to manage. Patients also can experience life-threatening complications during MIS procedures. The updated AORN "Guideline for minimally invasive surgery" provides recommendations that perioperative nurses can use when caring for patients undergoing MIS procedures. This article provides an overview of the guideline and discusses several recommendations, including creating a safe environment in which to perform MIS procedures; using gas distension media, irrigation and fluid distension media, and computer-assisted navigation and robotics; and performing intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging in a hybrid OR. It also includes a scenario describing care of a patient undergoing a hysteroscopy. Perioperative nurses who care for patients undergoing MIS procedures should review the guideline in its entirety and apply the recommendations as applicable in their practice.