Surgeons perform 'scarless' spleen removal

Published on Tuesday 12 May 2009 20:12

SURGEONS at a Scottish hospital have become the first in Europe to remove a patient's spleen using a "virtually scarless" keyhole surgery technique, it was announced yesterday.

The European first "single port splenectomy" was performed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) by Professor Zyg Krukowski and his colleague Mr Irfan Ahmed.

Last November, ARI became the first institution in the world to offer "single port" hernia repair to its patients. And keyhole surgery techniques have also been used at the hospital to successfully treat patients during gall bladder and appendix operations.

Mr Ahmed said the latest pioneering operation had been performed using only one 15mm incision below the left rib cage.

He said: "

"Removing a spleen using this novel technique is a more challenging operation than taking out a gall bladder, appendix or hernia, because of its unique location in the body."

He added:

"The procedure took a little over one hour, which is similar to our routine laparoscopic approach. The patient was able to go home 24 hours after the surgery."