Doctors going in through the "outie"

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - There's a revolutionary way to do surgery that does not leave a scar for some major procedures.

That's because surgeons do their work through the belly button.

"This is an evolution of the laparoscopic technique," said Dr. Tripp Buckley, surgeon for Scott and White Hospital. "It's so new that less than 1 percent of surgeons across the country are performing it right now."

"We can do a multitude of operations through a single, small, less-than-an-inch incision almost exclusively through the belly button," said Buckley.

The method is used on surgeries performed on the hernia, gall bladder and appendix.

Karen Solmon was the first patient at Scott and White Hospital in Round Rock to have her appendix removed with the new technique.

"I thought it was amazing to only have one incision, when my mom had one that's big, and you can't see my incision at all," said Solmon.

During traditional laparoscopic surgery, surgeons make several small incisions for all of their equipment. However, going through the belly button means just one incision.

"We use a device that goes through the belly button, and then everything is performed through it in the less-than-inch incision in the belly button," said Buckley.

For the patient, it means a smaller scar and a much quicker recovery time.

"I was at the movies with my kids two days after the surgery, and I was taking care of my kids full time on the third day," said Solmon.

Recovery time with traditional surgery for an appendectomy would have been a month, not days.

Yet, there's a reason not all doctors are doing this type of surgery.

"It's technically a much more difficult surgery to perform," said Buckley. "That's why only a few surgeons in the country are doing it."

That could change, since the benefits for the patient are so much greater than the methods used currently. To learn more about surgery through the belly button, check out the Scott and White Hospital Web site.   Also St. David's Round Rock Medical Center also performs this procedure.