Mr. Maitham Alwhouhayb MBChB FRCS

Operative Experience

Mr Alwhouhayb has a wide-ranging repertoire of general surgical operative procedures. Some of the most commonly performed operations are detailed below. Please click the corresponding header for more information.

A hernia is an abnormal protrusion of an an organ through a defect in the abdominal wall. They can appear in the groin, the belly button, upper thigh or in sites of previous abdominal surgery. Patients with a hernia often notice a lump in any of the aforementioned sites. Sometimes these can be left alone, or managed with a truss, but if the hernia becomes more painful or if it is more prone to getting stuck, then operative repair is usually needed to prevent complications.

To repair the hernia, an incision is made over the hernia, the contents reduced and the defect strengthened with a mesh. The skin is then subsequently closed with stitches.

Open surgery for hernia is a safe and highly effective treatment. However, although uncommon, the main risks of operative repair include bleeding, wound infection, recurrence, chronic pain, numbness, injury to the structures of the spermatic cord or testicle (for inguinal hernia repairs in males) and resultant subfertility, and venous thromboemoblism. To facilitate recovery from the operation, patients are advised against any heavy lifting for six-weeks post-op.

Patients with gallstones can suffer a range of problems, from intense abdominal pain and nausea after eating fatty meals, to more serious conditions like inflammation of the gallbladder (cholecystitis), pancreas (pancreatitis) or jaundice (yellowing of the skin) caused by gallstones obstructing the outflow of bile from the common bile duct (choledocholithiasis). In such patients it is routinely recommneded that they undergo removal of the gallbladder with the aim to eradicate such symptoms.

It is entirely possible to live without a gallbladder, and the vast majority of affected patients undergo a keyhole operation (laparoscopic cholecystectomy) to remove the gallbladder. This involves the removal of the gallbladder via several small incisions. It is considered to be a safe operation, however there are risks of complications. The main ones include infection of the abdominal wounds, bile leaking into the peritoneum, damage to the bile duct, and venous thromboembolism. Occasionaly, patients with more complex problems (such as unsusual anatomy, previous abdominal operations) may require an open operation if this is deemed safer.