How do you squeeze a kidney through a keyhole? Put it in a plastic bag and pull, it seems.
In the latest milestone in keyhole surgery, or laparoscopy, surgeons have succeeded in removing an entire kidney through a single 2.5-centimetre-wide hole in the belly button, barely leaving a scar. Kidneys are normally removed through a 25-centimetre incision across the side of the abdomen.
“Surgeons have removed an entire kidney through a 2.5-centimetre-wide hole”
Pulling a fist-sized kidney through the tiny, semicircular hole involves a mixture of compressing the organ and distending the incision, says Jeffrey Cadeddu of Southwestern Medical Center…
