At the Forefront of Surgery Without Scars

Surgeons in the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urologic & Kidney Institute have achieved a number of surgical firsts in recent years, using single-port laparoscopic techniques. Laparoscopic surgery is an established minimally invasive technique that usually requires three to six small incisions (ports). Long, slender instruments are inserted into the ports, thereby eliminating the need for large incisions made during typical open surgery. This can mean a more rapid recovery. Single-port laparoscopic procedures are performed through a small incision in the patient’s navel, leaving almost no scar. Jihad Kaouk, MD, was the first Cleveland Clinic surgeon to utilize the single-port technique. Mihir Desai, MD, and Inderbir Gill, MD, have led teams through additional surgical firsts here utilizing the procedure. In 2008, Dr. Gill used the single-port technique to remove a kidney from a live organ donor. Dr. Kaouk successfully destroyed kidney tumors in several patients through single-port surgery. He was the first in the world to perform a prostatectomy for prostate cancer using this technique. Dr. Kaouk also worked with Raymond Rackley, MD, and Courtenay Moore, MD, on the repair of pelvic organ prolapse using this method, and with Jeffrey Palmer, MD, on treatment for varicocele in pediatric patients. Dr. Kaouk also has performed a single-port cystectomy (surgical removal of a bladder). Drs. Desai and Gill used the single-port technique to perform pyeloplasty, a procedure to treat UPJ (ureteropelvic junction) obstruction, remove kidneys and reconstruct urinary tracts (ileal ureter replacement).