Navel provides surgeons procedure entry

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Gall bladder removal using the navel as an entry point is becoming more popular in U.S. hospitals, with doctors saying it is a safe procedure.

Surgeons say it is a better, safer operation than its predecessors, in part because the lack of incisions in the abdominal region reduces the possibility of infection, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Monday.

The incision is virtually scarless and patients usually spend less time in the hospital recuperating, many often being handled as same-day surgeries, the newspaper reported.

"It's not the future, it's the present. These are the expanding frontiers of medicine," Dr. Antonio J. Ripepi, who first performed the surgery Oct. 20 at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., told the newspaper.

"There's undeniably better results when patients spend less time in the hospital and can get back to work faster," said Dr. Joseph Colella, a surgeon at Allegheny General Hospital who also does one-incision gallbladder surgeries.

While the technique is being used mostly for gallbladder removal, some surgeons said they expect it could be used for weight-reduction surgeries, repair hernias and some forms of cancer, the Tribune-Review said.