Minimally invasive (endoscopic-computer assisted) surgery: Technique and review

Endoscopic or minimally invasive surgery popular as keyhole surgery is a medical procedure in which endoscope (a camera) is used, and it has gained broad acceptance with popularity in several surgical specialties and has heightened the standard of care. Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a modern discipline in the field of dentistry in which endoscopy has developed as well as widely used in surgeries and is rapidly gaining importance. The use of different visual as well as standard instruments such as laparoscopic and endoscopic instruments, and high-powered magnification devices, has allowed physicians to decrease the morbidity of many surgical procedures by eliminating the need for a large surgical incision. Minimally invasive techniques have evolved through the development of surgical microscopes equipped with a camera to get visual images for maxillofacial surgeries, endodontic procedures, and periodontal surgical procedures. Nevertheless, current experiences and reviewing the literature have intimated that the use of endoscopes, as in different minimally invasive methods, may permit complicated surgeries with less complications, for example, in reconstruction of facial fractures through smaller incisions with less extensive exposure.