Recent News Articles
MU surgeon introduces single incision surgery for gallbladder surgery at CHH
Last updated: 08/07/2009
With a single, tiny incision inside the belly button, Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine surgeon Gerald McKinney, MD, has brought a new era of leading-edge surgery to Cabell Huntington Hospital.
Dr. McKinney, Chief of the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, has used the Olympus-LESS TriPort™ to perform gallbladder surgeries, and will add other procedures in the near future.
The advantages of such technology can include a faster recovery, less pain and a much better aesthetic result. Dr. McKinney said there are hundreds of potential uses for the TriPort, including removal of the appendix.
"If I can get my baby finger in [the incision] to the knuckle, I have enough room to do the whole surgery," Dr. McKinney said. "This type of single incision surgery provides the patient with less pain and, essentially, a surgery without a scar because we can hide the scar inside the belly button."
The TriPort is a disposable device that is inserted through a single incision in a patient's navel. The TriPort is a disc with three holes that are used to guide a surgeon's tools and a tiny camera through the single incision. Once inside, a surgeon can operate using laparoscopic tools and then remove the port.