Techotic

A sore throat is not exactly what you’d expect from an appendix operation, not so for Mr Scholtz, 42, who secured a place in medical history by having his appendix removed through his mouth.

Surgeons in San Diego, California performed the operation using a flexible tube to thread miniature surgical instruments down Scholtz’s throat to his stomach, a tiny incision was then made in the stomach wall to get at the appendix and finally the diseased appendix was cut away, bagged, squeezed back into the stomach and pulled out of the mouth. The 42 year old former US marine was able to go back to work within 2 days, the surgery left no scars and had no side effect apart from the sore throat.

Patients given conventional appendectomies through the abdomen can spend up to a week in hospital and may have to avoid playing sport for up to six weeks.

Santiago Horgan, of the University of San Diego Medical Centre, said operating from within the stomach also cut the risk of hernias and infections.

Professor Horgan, who leads the hospital’s Centre for the Future of Surgery, told Sky News: “Imagine a day when surgery requires no incisions or just one tiny incision that is only millimeters in length.

“Scarless, painless techniques are what the centre is setting the stage for right at this minute. Patients deserve it.”

He added: “My dad was a surgeon and, in his time, the larger the incision the better the surgeon. Today, we are moving away from that and trying to minimise the trauma.”

A similar type of operation in Britain is said to be 3 to 4 years away.
[via dailymail]