Recovery is quicker with new colon surgery

NEW YORK, March 2 (UPI) -- Doctors in New York have developed a new kind of colon surgery that they say allows some patients to avoid more invasive procedures.

The combined laparoscopy and colonoscopy procedure will allow most patients with hard-to-reach colon polyps to go home in less than a day, said a release from New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where surgeons developed the procedure.

"It's reassuring to our patients getting preventive colonoscopies that no matter what kind of polyp we find, in almost all instances, we can remove it with minimal discomfort and inconvenience," said Dr. Jeffrey Milsom, a professor of surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and surgeon at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

In the past, patients required open surgery and up to a seven-day hospital stays, the hospital said.