Created on 30th November -0001
Surgeons have performed the first example of weight loss surgery through a patient's vagina in the US.
A team at the University of California, San Diego Centre for the Future of Surgery performed the so-called 'gastrectomy' procedure on a 29-year-old Californian woman who weighed 253 pounds prior to surgery.
Dr Mark Talamini, professor and chair of surgery at the university's medical centre and president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, described the feat as a "milestone".
"Our goal is to continually improve and expand surgery options using emerging technology so that patients experience less pain and better outcomes," he revealed.
The procedure took just 75 minutes and involved the removal of approximately 80 per cent of the stomach through the abdomen and out of the vagina.
The patient, Maria Soto, said that she chose the weight loss surgery because she wanted a procedure that offered "less pain and fast healing".
"I liked this option because there were only two small incisions and a short hospital stay," she explained.
