How can we help you?

(MINOT, ND)–The days of proudly showing off one’s surgical scars may be coming to an end. For many common surgical procedures there has been a remarkable evolution over the last two decades from open surgeries with a large incision to laparoscopic procedures that use four small incisions or punctures that serve as ports for the laparoscopic instruments.

But now laparoscopic surgery itself has evolved, giving way to a single port method for some procedures ‚Ä’ one that requires just one small incision, and a discreet one at that.

Dr. Lane Lee, a board-certified general and vascular surgeon with Trinity Health, has been performing single incision laparoscopic surgery for the past couple of years. He says it was a natural progression borrowing techniques from basic procedures like tubal ligations and appendectomies, long performed with a single incision, and applying them to more difficult cases like gallbladder surgery and bowel resections. He also completed a laparoscopic fellowship where he was trained in advanced single incision methodology.

“The use of a single incision for more advanced procedures like gallbladders and bowel resections came about because of better lighting, better tools, better instrumentation, and better imaging,” Dr. Lee explained.