Most of the anxiety that surrounds an abdominal operation has little to do with the operating room itself. Patients tend to worry about the weeks on either side of it: which documents they should bring, how long the hospital stay will last, when they can go back to work, and who answers their questions once they are home again. The surgical practice of Prof. Univ. Dr. Florin Graur in Cluj-Napoca, operating under the legal name Synergic Medical Group SRL, devotes a noticeable part of its website to exactly these stages, and the way the information is organised says a good deal about how the practice works.
What the minimally invasive approach changes for the patient
The practice presents itself as covering the full surgical spectrum — classical, laparoscopic and robotic-assisted — and states that the technique is selected according to the particularities of each case rather than out of a preference for one technology. That framing matters for preparation, because a patient arriving with the expectation of a specific method may leave the consultation with a different plan, based on imaging, laboratory results and the surgeon’s clinical assessment.
For the laparoscopic route, the site lists the benefits it communicates to patients in plain terms:
- small incisions and minimal scarring
- reduced postoperative pain
- a short hospital stay
- faster recovery
- a lower risk of wound complications
These are described as characteristics of the approach, not as promises attached to an individual case. The surgical areas covered by the practice are grouped into eight fields — advanced laparoscopic surgery, digestive oncological surgery, hepato-biliary surgery, pancreatic surgery, colorectal surgery, abdominal wall surgery, bariatric and metabolic surgery, and diagnostic and interventional ultrasound — and each of them carries its own preparation and recovery particularities.
The consultation where preparation actually begins
According to the information published by the practice, consultations take place exclusively by prior appointment, booked through online forms, by telephone, e-mail or WhatsApp. One element of that appointment is described in some detail: abdominal ultrasound is performed by the surgeon within the same consultation, covering the liver, bile ducts, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen and kidneys. Ultrasound-guided punctures and drainages are listed as part of the same service. In practical terms, the clinical examination and the imaging happen in one sitting rather than across two separate appointments in two different places.
Patients who cannot travel to Cluj-Napoca for this first stage have a remote alternative. The practice runs online consultations that it describes as suitable for the assessment of surgical problems, the interpretation of investigations, preoperative preparation and postoperative monitoring, with booking through a dedicated online form. For patients considering treatment away from home, the practice has also published a detailed account of what international patients can expect from minimally invasive surgery abroad, which sits alongside the English-language section of the site.
The paperwork that shortens the first appointment
Anyone who has ever gone through a surgical evaluation knows how much time is lost hunting for old test results. The list of documents the practice asks for in its second-opinion service is a useful reference for a first consultation as well. It includes:
- CT, MRI and PET-CT examinations
- endoscopy reports
- histopathology results
- laboratory analyses
- medical letters
- recommendations received from other physicians
Bringing this file complete, or uploading it before a remote appointment, means the discussion can start from the medical facts instead of from a reconstruction of them. The practice states that its second-opinion process can be carried out entirely at a distance, with the documentation reviewed personally by the physician and an independent assessment of the treatment options, including minimally invasive alternatives.
A reference library organised by anatomy
Preparation also involves understanding what is being operated on, and the site is built with that in mind. Its “conditions treated” section is organised into seven anatomical groups — stomach and duodenum, colon and rectum, pancreas, liver and bile ducts, gallbladder, abdominal wall, and spleen — and contains more than 35 pages dedicated to individual conditions. They range from gallstone disease, inguinal hernia and gastro-oesophageal reflux to gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma and liver metastases. Among the positions the practice states publicly is that the presence of liver metastases does not automatically mean a case is inoperable, a point placed in the hepato-biliary section of the site.
Where the consultation ends and the operation takes place
The two addresses involved are separate and both are published. Consultations are held at the practice in str. Marin Sorescu no. 1A in Cluj-Napoca, while operations are performed at Humanitas Hospital (MedLife), Str. Frunzișului no. 75, in the same city. Patients coming from outside the region therefore plan two distinct logistical steps, which the international programme handles as part of its coordination stage.
A structured example: how the bariatric programme is staged
The bariatric and metabolic surgery programme is the section in which preparation and follow-up are set out as an explicit sequence, and it illustrates the general logic well. It is presented in three stages: a preoperative evaluation that includes laboratory tests, a nutritional assessment and specialist consultations; the laparoscopic intervention itself — longitudinal gastrectomy, gastric bypass or revision surgery for patients with previous bariatric operations; and long-term follow-up with nutritional counselling. The third stage is given the same weight as the first two, which reflects a view of surgery as one episode inside a longer process rather than as a single event.
Oncological cases and the multidisciplinary review
For digestive cancers, the site describes each case as being evaluated within a multidisciplinary protocol that brings together the surgeon, the oncologist, the radiologist and the pathologist. The stated purpose of this review is to avoid both unnecessary interventions and delays in starting treatment. From the patient’s perspective, this adds a step before the operation is scheduled, and the practice presents it as an argument in favour of assembling the imaging and biopsy file early rather than at the last moment.
Recovery, and the follow-up that continues from a distance
The recovery stage is where the remote services of the practice reappear. Online consultations are listed as covering postoperative monitoring, and the five-step pathway published for international patients ends with follow-up appointments held after the patient has returned home. The full sequence runs from an online consultation with a review of the medical documents, to a treatment plan with a cost estimate, then coordination of travel and admission, the operation and recovery at Humanitas Hospital, and finally remote follow-up. An English-speaking team is described as accompanying patients through all five stages.
Patients still weighing whether to proceed with an operation that has already been scheduled elsewhere can consult the practice’s explanation of how a remote second-opinion review is carried out, which sets out what the physician examines and how the assessment is delivered.
The professional background behind the published information
Prof. Univ. Dr. Florin Graur is a senior general surgeon and a doctor of medical sciences, a university professor and doctoral supervisor. His published credentials include two European certifications — F.E.B.S./MIS in minimally invasive surgery and F.E.B.S./HPB in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery — together with a certified competence in general ultrasound obtained at the Jefferson Ultrasound Research and Education Institute in Philadelphia. The practice states more than 30 years of surgical activity since 1996 and over 10,000 operations as principal surgeon, predominantly minimally invasive, alongside more than 120 scientific articles, book chapters and specialist publications and over 200 papers presented at national and international conferences. He has been a national delegate to the UEMS Bureau of HPB Surgery since 2023 and has completed fellowships in France, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. Synergic Medical Group SRL has been active since 2007.
Practical details and a necessary caution
Appointments are made through the online forms published on the site, by telephone or WhatsApp at 0729 362 867 (+40 729 362 867 from abroad), or by e-mail. The practice specifies explicitly that it does not handle medical emergencies, and that consultations are available only with a prior booking.
This article has an informative purpose and describes information published by the practice. It does not constitute a medical opinion, a diagnosis or a treatment recommendation, and it does not replace a consultation with a qualified physician. Decisions about surgery, preparation and recovery belong to the treating medical team, following an individual assessment of each patient.
