Wednesday, January 05, 2011
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Presbyterian Hospital, located in Charlotte, N.C., has become one of the first International Training Centers for Incisionless Surgery, the next advance in minimally invasive surgery. As an International Training Center for Incisionless Surgery, surgeons will travel to Presbyterian Hospital to observe David C. Voellinger, MD, FACS, FASMBS and Donald Balder, MD, FACS perform ROSE (Repair of Surgery, Endolumenal), a completely incision-free procedure used to repair previous surgeries on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Incisionless surgery offers a number of potential benefits over traditional open or laparoscopic approaches including faster recoveries, less pain during recovery, reduced chance of infection and no visible scarring.
“We’re proud to be recognized as leaders in this innovative field and that we’ll be able to share our expertise and techniques with surgeons around the world who want to learn ways to repair past surgeries without subjecting the patients to another open or laparoscopic operation,” says Dr. Voellinger. On September 27, 2010, Drs. Balder and Voellinger held Presbyterian Hospital’s first Incisionless Surgery Training Course with a surgeon from Israel.
“We’re excited to offer ROSE to our patients, and we want to make certain that other patients around the world have that same access to skilled surgeons,” says Dr. Balder. “ROSE may be of particular benefit to patients with scar tissue from a previous abdominal procedure, which could make a second laparoscopic surgical procedure more difficult. ROSE avoids the need to operate through the abdomen by allowing us to operate from within the GI tract,” says Balder.
“These tools and approaches offer patients treatment options with exceptional cosmetic outcomes and potentially fewer complications,” says Dr. Voellinger. “With any kind of surgery, however, proper technique is absolutely vital to ensure positive patient outcomes, which means proper training is also vital.”
