On April 2, 2007, the IRCAD-EITS team, Prof Jacques Marescaux, B. Dallemagne, MD, S. Perretta, MD, D. Mutter, MD, PhD, A. Wattiez, MD, and D. Coumaros, MD, performed the first totally NOTES cholecystectomy. This first no-scar surgery was carried out on a 30-year-old woman with symptomatic gallstones using a flexible endoscope for transvaginal cholecystectomy. Performed without incision except for the use of a 2 mm needle for insufflation, this was an important step in non-invasive surgery.
Justifications for the technique include the reduction/absence of postoperative pain, ease of access to some organs, absence of trauma to the abdominal wall, ideal cosmetic results, and the psychological advantage of eliminating the bodily trauma represented by surgery.
Performance of the operation was the result of three years of research and the collaboration of several agencies.
www.Laparoscopy.org The Laparoscopic Surgery Information Source
