By Julie Bierach, KWMU
SAINT LOUIS, MO – Surgeons at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis are reporting a major advancement in the treatment of kidney cancer.
On Friday, doctors performed the world's first single incision robotic surgery to remove a large kidney and tumor through the patient's belly button.
The most common treatment options for kidney cancer is an open surgery with a large incision about a foot long, or a laparoscopic surgery that requires four to five small tiny incisions. The new procedure only requires a single incision at the patient's belly button.
Dr. Sam Bhayani and his colleagues at the Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital performed the surgery. He says the procedure cuts down on a patient's recovery time.
"If you have to have your kidney removed and typically that would be for a kidney cancer or a tumor, than this is advantageous," said Dr. Bhayani, a urologic surgeon. "This might be the way that everybody does it five or ten years from now."
Not everyone is a candidate for the procedure. That depends on the tumor's size and location.
Approximately 55,000 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer every year.