Single-Incision Gallbladder Surgery Now Available at Doylestown Hospital

Patients who need gallbladder surgery have an important new option at Doylestown Hospital to have the procedure done through one small incision. 

The hospital continued its tradition of offering the latest proven minimally invasive treatments to patients when the team led by general surgeon Brian Pellini, MD, recently completed the hospital’s first robotic single-incision gallbladder removal. The procedure required only one small incision -- less than one inch -- in the patient’s belly button. With this technique, there is minimal visible scarring, little blood loss, and a short hospital stay with patients often able to safely return home the same day of surgery.

Dr. Pellini used the da Vinci Si robotic surgical system to remove the gallbladder of a patient with gallstones and gallbladder disease. It was the first robotic-assisted single-incision cholecystectomy done in Bucks County. 

 “We are glad to be able to continue to offer our patients the safest, most effective treatments,” said Dr. Pellini. “With minimally invasive single-incision surgery, patients experience a fast recovery enabling them to return to their busy lives. The cosmetic benefit of having practically no visible scar on the abdomen is also something that increases patient satisfaction.”

With traditional open gallbladder surgery, one large incision approximately 4-6 inches is required to remove the gallbladder. With laparoscopy, the surgeon makes several--typically four--smaller incisions. With robot-assisted single-site surgery, the surgeon operates through one small incision placed in the navel (belly button).

Benefits for the patient include a low rate of major complications, minimal pain, virtually no scar and a fast recovery, and therefore return, to the activities of daily living. Not everyone is a candidate for this type of surgery, and the surgeon carefully considers which approach is best for each patient.

Dr. Pellini also performs single-incision appendectomy.

Several Doylestown Hospital physicians also use the da Vinci robotic system when appropriate for urologic and gynecologic cases.

For more information, visit www.dh.org/davinci .