Kidney taken through belly button

Pioneering surgery at a hospital in Surrey has allowed a woman to have her kidney removed through her navel.

East Surrey Hospital, in Redhill, said it was the first in Europe to carry out kidney and gallbladder surgery through an incision in the belly button.

It also said it was the first hospital in the UK to use the procedure for urology and general surgery.

Four patients from Surrey and four from Sussex have had the scar-free surgery in the past 14 months.

Consultant urologist Dr Abhay Rane carried out the first kidney removal in March 2008, using special instruments operated through a minuscule incision.

As a child, I had a kidney operation, which left a big scar. So I am pleased that this procedure has left virtually nothing to show Susan White

Thirty-year-old Susan White, from Surrey, who had the procedure, said: "The hospital has done a great job and I recovered very quickly.

"As a child, I had a kidney operation, which left a big scar.

"So I am pleased that this procedure has left virtually nothing to show for it. It makes a big difference to my confidence."

The procedure is carried out by making an incision inside the belly button and inserting a port with several entry points which can operate a camera and other tools.

The belly is inflated with carbon dioxide to provide manoeuvring room.

'NHS at forefront'

In the case of a kidney removal, the kidney is freed from surrounding connecting tissue and organs, disconnected from its blood supply, wrapped in a plastic bag and removed piecemeal through the navel.

The incision disappears after a few months, and most patients return to normal activity within days.

Dr Rane said he developed the method with his colleagues to limit the impact of the surgery and reduce scars.

Recovery time was shortened to days rather than weeks, he added.

He said the hospital had now celebrated a successful one-year anniversary of what was the first procedure of this kind in Europe.

And he added: "It has been an exciting year for us at the hospital, particularly seeing patients improving so quickly and teaching other people across the world how to do this, benefiting their community."

Dr Catherine Greenaway, medical director of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said Dr Rane's work had put the NHS at the forefront of eliminating post-surgical scars.

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