New surgery doesn't leave cuts or scars
Local doctors have successfully carried out gynecological surgeries that utilize natural channels of the body instead of leaving cuts and scarring.
Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital today announced that it launched the city’s first gynecological surgery through the patient’s vagina. Seven patients have received the surgery so far, all successfully.
The new procedure, Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery — or NOTES — is a surgical technique where "scarless" operations are performed by an endoscope passed through a natural orifice like the mouth or anus and then through the stomach, vagina, bladder or colon to reach operation position, while avoiding external cuts and scars.
“Such operations leave no scarring on the body and allow patients to recover more quickly and feel less pain,” said Dr Sun Jing, vice president of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital and chief surgeon of NOTES.
“With medical developments, people have rising demands when it comes to surgery, which have developed from minimally invasive procedures to the current scarless ones.”
Doctors said not all patients are suitable for the new technique and that surgeons must receive training to perform the procedure.
