North Texas doctors are touting a new type of surgery that they say leaves patients with no permanent scar, less pain and less recovery time.
The procedure, called SILS -- single incision laparoscopic surgery -- can be performed in a variety of surgeries. It's the latest advancement in minimally invasive surgery.
Dr. Bob Darrow used SILS when performing a hysterectomy on Sheree Hall, a Sachse respiratory therapist.
"I really didn't know what to expect, but I was pleased," Hall said. "The more invasive you go, the more time off you'd have to take. And I'm not only a career person, but I'm also a mom."
She had painful tumors in her uterus and cysts on her ovaries, but Darrow removed the organs with only one incision through her belly button.
"In the old days, the women would have a giant scar from the belly button all the way down to the pubic bone or have a scar going in the bikini hair line," Darrow said.
Other more modern minimally invasive operations create a few small scars around the belly -- everywhere the surgeon has to make a cut. But with SILS, the surgeon makes just one cut, and the scar usually heals within one year.
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Hall had her surgery on a Wednesday and was back to work on Monday.
Darrow said he's the first surgeon in Dallas-Fort Worth to use SILS for obstetrics and gynecology. But other local doctors already use it on other organs in the abdominal area, including the gallbladder, colon and prostate. It also can be used to remove hernias.
