Surgeons Remove Woman’s Gallbladder Through Her Vagina
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A 42-year-old woman has undergone a rare procedure in which surgeons removed her gallbladder through her vagina.
The procedure was done in August by a surgical team at Ohio State University Medical Center and was part of a pilot program comparing laparoscopic and transvaginal natural orifice surgery.
The surgery took less than 90 minutes and involved surgeons punching a small hole in the vaginal muscle. A tiny instrument was then fed into the woman’s abdomen where doctors were able to remove the gallbladder.
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Dr. Vimal Narula, the surgeon who performed the procedure, said there are many advantages to this minimally-invasive surgery.
“Because the incision used to extract the gallbladder is located inside the body where there are no nerve endings, there is no sensation of pain,” Narula said in a news release. “The only discomfort may come from a small incision at the naval where a small endoscopic camera is inserted to provide visibility to the surgeon while he uses the laparoscopic instruments.”
Other perks include no visible scarring and a shorter stay in the hospital. The patient in this case went home just hours after the surgery was performed.
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The pilot program is sponsored by the Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research.