For practical reasons, if nothing else.

Doctors in New York have removed a womanÂ’s gallbladder with instruments passed through her vagina, a technique they hope will cause less pain and scarring than the usual operation, and allow a quicker recovery. The technique can eliminate the need to cut through abdominal muscles, a major source of pain after surgery.

The operation was experimental, part of a study that is being done to find out whether people will fare better if abdominal surgery is performed through natural openings in the body rather than cuts in the belly. The surgery still requires cutting, through the wall of the vagina, stomach or colon, but doctors say it should hurt less because those tissues are far less sensitive than the abdominal muscles.

The notion of taking a different direction for to reach abdominal sites is a good one, though there are already options for gallbladder removal that involve only a tiny incision through the belly button.

Posted by: Greg at 01:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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