New key-hole bowel surgery for cancer with only four days hospital stay

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 26 2010

Major bowel cancer surgery usually takes days to heal. In a new technique developed by Tasmanian surgeons, the recovery time for such surgeries can be halved.

Calvary Health's Emilio Mignanelli is one of the two Australian surgeons who can perform this operation. Traditional key-hole or laparoscopic surgery of the bowel involves five small incisions over the belly including one at the navel and takes at least 8 days of hospital stay. This new technique requires only once such incision at the belly button.

According to Dr Mignanelli, “For the patients who had undergone the single incision, the new procedure, their length of stay was four days….Nearly 50 per cent of patients will go home two days after their procedure, which is a lot different to what it has been in the past.” According to him this procedure “is so new that a lot of patients don't really know that is exists.”Some patients are still shocked to find that we can take [the] bowel out using keyhole surgery…When you can tell them that you can do it through one incision they are quite surprised and very pleased.”

According to Calvary CEO Michael Krieg this procedure is still novel and the Lenah Valley campus was one of only two hospitals in Australia where it is regularly performed with Calvary Central Districts Hospital in Adelaide being the only other. He also said that Tasmania has the highest rate of deaths from bowel cancer and this operation will be a boon. “This new technique, called single-port surgery, uses only one small incision to remove the section of colon containing the bowel cancer, as compared to the current standard keyhole technique, which requires four or five abdominal incisions…The result is a smaller scar, less pain and faster healing for patients.” Mr Krieg said.

Dr Mignanelli also plans to present his findings at a conference in Perth, WA, next month.