Articles

Boca Hospital surgeon removes cancer through single incision
February 18, 2009

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR
BOCA NEWS

A colorectal surgeon and his team at Boca Raton Community Hospital have performed the area’s first single incision laparoscopic colectomy

Dr. Andrew Ross and his colleagues used the single incision procedure for treatment of a patient with colon cancer.

With the technique, the doctors were able to remove the right side of her color through a three-quarter inch incision. Hospital officials said the woman is expected to make a full recovery.

“This is the next logical step in the exciting field of minimally-invasive surgery,” said Dr. Ross, who has been on staff at Boca Community for 22 years. “At Boca Raton Community Hospital, we are performing some of the most technologically advanced surgeries in the area. Our patients will truly benefit from this new procedure.”

His patient, Joyce Miele of Boynton Beach, agrees. “Thanks to him, I am feeling wonderful,” she said. “I am so happy that I had the procedure done in this manner, and so grateful that they got all of the cancer before it spread.”

Hospital officials said she is back to her active lifestyle doing all the things she loves – going to plays, concerts and movies, painting and playing cards.

In the past, laparoscopic colectomy involved removal of part of the colon through four incisions in the patient’s abdomen, eliminating the need for patients to undergo the more traditional open surgery.

Until recently, the single incision technique had only been performed on patients needing gall bladder surgery.

The new procedure involves inserting specialized tools through a tiny incision in the patient’s belly button, or umbilicus, including a camera and an instrument to cut and suture. The cancerous part of the colon is removed through the incision.

Single incision laparoscopic colectomy is strictly for patients with a very small, early stage cancer. Patients must also be in good physical condition and have had no prior surgeries for treatment of the cancer. The procedure takes about an hour and a half.

Patients who have a single incision laparoscopic colectomy can expect to have a faster recovery, fewer incisions, less scarring and less time in the hospital.