Scarless Appendix Removal Surgery: Through Your Mouth!

Posted by Alex in Medicine on April 21, 2008 at 1:08 am


If you ever need your appendix removed in the future, there is a good chance you’ll never even have a scar. That’s because doctors have successfully performed the world’s first appendectomy … through the patient’s mouth!

The operation, which is a major advance in the quest for scar-free surgery, was performed by doctors in San Diego, California, who used a flexible tube to thread miniature surgical instruments down the 42-year-old’s throat to his stomach.

A tiny incision was then made in the stomach wall to get at the appendix – a small worm-like pouch attached to the large bowel.

The inflamed appendix was cut away, bagged and pulled back into the stomach – and out of the mouth.

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10 comments to "Scarless Appendix Removal Surgery: Through Your Mouth!"

  1. Becky
    April 21st, 2008 at 1:10 am

    talk about bad breath . . .

  2. Tony LaRocca
    April 21st, 2008 at 10:35 am

    Erm... isn't there a much greater chance of something going wrong if a Doctor snakes down your esophagus and cuts through your stomach rather than if he simply cuts your side open and deals with your appendix directly?

  3. Mofongo
    April 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    So, won't there be problems in the healing of the stomach wall, taking into account stomach acid? I've had a stomach ulcer in the past and it was very hard to heal...it took months... had to take a lot of acid reducing meds and it was hell for my digestive process, lots of stomach pain due to food not digesting properly, etc. Besides, nowadays appendix removal is done through a very small puncture incision, not the 4 inch caterpillar gash they used to do before... I don't know, doesn't sound too good...

  4. sigh
    April 21st, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    Wouldn't going through the other end be a lot less distance? Colonoscopies are pretty common and simple, you'd think they could adapt that for an appendectomy. Seems like you'd have a lot more chance of something going wrong in about 25 feet of "super twisty" small intestine compared to about 5 feet of large intestine with three "straightaways."

  5. Tara
    April 21st, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    God people are so afraid to ruin their appearance. I'd rather have the scar thank you.

  6. Jacques
    April 21st, 2008 at 1:13 pm

    I had two sub-acute attacks of appendicitis, both times they did an CAT scan and discoverd that it was inflamed, but not bad enough that they needed to operate. And both times they gave me an enema for the CAT scan, and within a cuople of days the pain went away. i am now convinced that the enema was responsible for, um, washing the appendix near the end of the bowel, and helping to eliminate the minor infection that had taken place. Next time I'm just going to get a home enema kit.

    ps. I'm not kidding.

  7. L
    April 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pm

    I thought I saw this on Neatorama already.

  8. Ali S.
    April 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    @ Jacques

    I also had two sub-acute appendicitis attacks! I went to see three different doctors and all of them said to have surgery but I didn't think I wanted to do that (because I was overseas). What my family doctor prescribed wasn't harsh medicines or...enemas...but to eat more yogurt and take a course of Probiotic Supplements and it really did the trick!

    He told me in cases of sub-acute appendicitis it's usually because the intestinal wall has lost some of the Probiotic balance. So, eat yogurt every day that has some good bacteria culture!

  9. Lore
    April 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    Eww...

    I'd take the scar where they deal with it directly than worry about a doctor not remembering where to go...

  10. Larfin Jackarse
    April 22nd, 2008 at 3:25 am

    Amusing. I would want the scar to add to my collection.

    Another take on this is that a friend went in for an appendectomy recently and they 'keyholed' him to save on ugly scars etc but they couldn't find the appendix. 4 keyhole punches later and then a 4cm slice they found out he is one of the 3% (ish) who have their appendix on the other side of their body. So add in the second 4 cm slice.

    He was FURIOUS when he woke up and found out. He looked look he had been a knife fight! We all thought it was very funny.


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