WSVN — When it comes to surgery, every patient wants as little cutting and scarring as possible. 7’s Diana Diaz shows us how a local hospital was one of the first in the nation to use a surgery tool that leaves patients with smaller scars.
Lauren Gomez had just landed her first job out of college when a health emergency struck.
Lauren Gomez: “It was a good day, and I went out to lunch with friends and then I experienced some discomfort. I was having some strange bleeding, so I was rushed to the emergency room.”
Dr. Juan-Carlos Verdeja: “She almost bled to death, she came in very, very sick.”
Doctors discovered the 22-year-old had a golf-ball sized tumor in her small intestine.
Lauren Gomez: “When I heard the word tumor, I was very freaked out.”
Lauren would need emergency surgery to remove the tumor and part of her small intestine.
Lauren Gomez: “When they told me about the surgery, I was scared I was going to have a big scar on my stomach and I didn’t really want that. I’m still young.”
Even with newer, minimally-invasive surgeries, doctors can’t always escape making a number of incisions to get the surgery done.
Dr. Juan-Carlos Verdeja: “We would have certainly had to put a number of larger holes in her abdomen and we would have had to put them in much more visible places.”
But South Miami Hospital Surgeon Juan-Carlos Verdeja has a new tool for patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgeries, appendectomies and even colorectal surgeries.
The doctor was one of the first in the nation to use the world’s smallest surgery stapler to repair and close incisions. It’s the difference between 12 millimeters and five.
Dr. Juan-Carlos Verdeja: “It is less than half the current size stapler, and what that allows us to do is go through much smaller holes, and gives us a lot more maneuverability in the belly.”
Which means smaller and fewer scars and easier recovery.
Dr. Juan-Carlos Verdeja: “The recovery is a lot better because we are not destroying abdominal wall, we are not damaging good tissue to get to bad tissue.”
It’s been four months since Lauren’s surgery and not only does she feel good, she doesn’t have a huge scar to remind her of the pain.
Lauren Gomez: “When I was able to take off the band-aid, I saw that it was so small. I was very happy about it and very impressed.”
She has her first job and is back to being active again.
Lauren Gomez: “I played basketball for the first time the other day and it felt great to be back playing, doing what I love, and being active again.”
Doctors are really excited about what this will mean for pediatric patients.