General Surgery Services

The Rush Approach to General Surgery

When you need surgery, you likely want a surgeon with a lot of experience in the procedure you are going to get. That's what you'll find at Rush. For instance, our general surgeons specialize in specific types of procedures, including hernia and benign upper gastrointestinal procedures, such as gallbladder and GERD surgery. In addition, because Rush is a large academic health system, we operate on a lot of patients, including people who are very sick or have complex surgical needs. All of this means that you can count on your Rush surgeon having a lot of experience in the specific procedure you need.

For many operations, Rush surgeons use minimally invasive approaches, such as laparoscopy and robotic surgery, that only require small incisions. This means less pain and shorter recovery times for you.

Rush Excellence in General Surgery

• Leaders in surgery: Surgeons at Rush helped pioneer minimally invasive laparoscopy for the treatment of gallbladder disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), colorectal cancer and other conditions. They were among the first in Chicago to use several laparoscopic techniques that are now standard.
• The most advanced approaches: We are continually improving surgery approaches to ensure success and to make the experience better for you. Our goals are to reduce your post-surgery pain, prevent complications and ensure you have a speedy recovery. One recent innovation that has helped with these goals is robotic-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Rush surgeons manipulate high-tech mechanical arms and fingers as well as a video camera to perform complex surgeries with more precision and accuracy than traditional approaches.
• Your safety and comfort: Rush has adopted the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program, which has been shown to improve patient outcomes and quality of life. Under ERAS, we follow a number of best practices before, during and after surgery. The practices vary depending on the surgery you are getting but could include eating a nutritious diet prior to surgery to help you heal and treating post-surgical pain with non-opioid medication. When surgeons follow ERAS, patients have fewer post-surgical infections, better pain control and shorter hospital stays after surgery.
• Next-day surgical consults: Rush now offers next-day appointments in several surgical specialties for adults and children, whether for an initial consultation or a second opinion.
• Second opinions: If you are looking for a specialist to weigh in on whether you need surgery or what type of surgery would be best for you, we can share our expertise.