News, Photos, Story Human Rights, Culture, Poltics, Economy

Appendix removed through mouth


Published: March 17, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Print story
Email to a friend
Font size:
SAN DIEGO, March 17 (UPI) -- In another milestone for minimally invasive surgery, U.S. surgeons removed an diseased appendix through a patient's mouth.

Surgeons Dr. Santiago Horgan and Dr. Mark Talamini at the University of California San Diego Medical Center preformed the surgery on Jeff Scholz, a 42-year-old La Jolla, Calif., resident

"I had to have my appendix removed and the opportunity to participate in something so innovative sounded enticing," Scholz said in a statement. "A day after surgery, I have little pain, a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10."

The purpose of this clinical trial is to test more "patient-focused" techniques for minimally invasive surgery with the goal of fewer incisions, less pain and more rapid recoveries, Talamini said.

"Only one small incision to insert a small camera in the belly button was required to complete the surgery versus three incisions required for a laparoscopic procedure," Horgan said. "The patient was discharged 20 hours after surgery."

Horgan and Talamini used the EndoSurgical Operating System, which is passed through the patient's mouth and into the stomach where a small incision was made in the stomach wall to pass the instrument through to the appendix.

© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
Print story
Order reprints
Email to a friend
Post comment
» Next in Health: Children with allergies less productive