Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

July 9, 2008 5:01:29 AM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

Back to the grid

Doctors Try Surgery Without Breaking Skin

Posted Jan 8, 08 6:19 PM CST in Science & Health    Most Covered

(Newser) – Doctors are trying a new surgical method that uses natural orifices to enter the body, leaves no scars, and lessens the chance of infection, the Boston Globe reports. It's called NOTES—natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery—and is being tested mostly on animals so far. Experts are already worried about the hidden dangers of the difficult, still-evolving method, which can remove a gallbladder or appendix through a patient's mouth.

"There need to be brakes put on this by the medical community," one expert says. Another hopes it will become the method of the future: "The holy grail is that it would be like getting a root canal—you go in (for surgery) and you can go to work the next day." NOTES may be comparable to minimally invasive surgery procedures that became popular in the 1980s and led to errors, malpractice suits, and even deaths.

Source Boston Globe

Editor Recommended

Related News

  • Hospital Owns Up to Wrong-Side Surgery

    Jul 4, 08 10:25 AM CDT
    Hospital Owns Up to Wrong-Side Surgery An experienced surgeon cut into the wrong side of his patient this week at a Boston hospital that has, coincidentally, been leading the crusade against medical mistakes. The hospital told its entire staff about the blunder, the fifth such wrong-side surgery Massachusetts has seen this year, the Boston Globe reports. Such open reporting is a rarity, one specialist said. More »

  • Surgery Cuts Down Obesity Without a Knife

    Jun 28, 08 5:54 PM CDT
    Surgery Cuts Down Obesity Without a Knife A Boston hospital has successfully performed a first-of-its-kind obesity surgery that doesn’t require a scalpel. The promising treatment involves passing a tube through the patient’s throat, which bypasses the need to cut the patient—and reduces the risk of infections, bleeding, and scarring. “This is less invasive, and patients would have a very quick recovery,” one researcher said. More »

  • Knee Surgery to End Tiger's Season

    Jun 18, 08 11:12 AM CDT
    Knee Surgery to End Tiger's Season Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the season because of surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee, AP reports—an injury he has dealt with the last 10 months despite winning nine of 12 tournaments. Woods said on his website today he suffered a double stress fracture of his left tibia while preparing to return to the PGA Tour last month, which forced him to miss the Memorial and was the source of his pain at Torrey Pines when he won the US Open. More »

  • Baby Born 'Again' After Tumor Operation

    Jun 7, 08 7:56 PM CDT
    Baby Born 'Again' After Tumor Operation A Texas baby is faring well after doctors pulled her from the womb, cut off a tumor, and put her back in to be born 4 weeks ago, CBS News reports. Doctors noticed Macie McCartney's tumor 4 months into pregnancy and identified it as fatal—so they pulled out her mom's uterus and operated. "My hands are big and that tumor filled my hand," one surgeon said. More »

  • China to Reverse Sterilization for Quake Parents

    Jun 6, 08 4:40 PM CDT
    China to Reverse Sterilization for Quake Parents China will send medical teams to areas hit by last month’s earthquake to reverse sterilization procedures for couples who want to have another child, Xinhua reports. The Sichuan family planning agency is providing free surgery and counseling to couples who were once sterilized in accordance with the nation's one-child policy. About 7,000 of the earthquake's fatalities were the lone children in their families. More »

Surgeons are at work in this undated file photo.   (Shutterstock.com)
A new kind of surgery works through patients' orifices, but some experts say it needs more testing.   (Shutterstock.com)
A surgeon gets ready to operate in this undated file photo.   (Shutterstock.com)
prev    next
play

Tags

surgery


Loading...

Loading...

Next story from this section »

Today's Most Popular


Other Science & Health Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »