He heard about an astounding procedure being done in Paris in which a prominent French surgeon was removing patients' gallbladders through their belly buttons-and Katkhouda traveled north to see it for himself. I was amazed. Upon mastering it, he realized the technique had possibilities for other operations as well. By 1990, he published his first work on his successful laparoscopic peptic ulcer procedure, and laparoscopy's potential boomed. Gallstones to GERD Not that the procedures are easy.
Endoscopic surgery requires rethinking the hand-eye relationship and lots of practice.
The detail is great, and it takes a different type of hand-eye coordination than many surgeons are used to. Holes and probes in the abdomen may sound like science fiction, but compared to open surgery, the advantages are hard to deny. Those benefits are most often seen in laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, which is now the most common operation in the nation, Katkhouda says. But the laparoscopic technique means less pain, leaves only four tiny scars, and can often be done on an outpatient basis. Patients can return to work or other physical activities quicker.