Another First

For someone who does laparoscopic colon work infrequently, I am really starting to like it.

Completed the first successful laparoscopic colostomy take down in our little town on friday. This is an operation where you reconnect the colon for someone who has had it "diverted" for some reason or another (usually a perforation). In other words, they are going into a bag attached to the skin of their abdomen, and the surgeon reconnects them so they go out the anus.

It was very gratifying to take what is usually a foot long incision which needs to heal and shorten it down to three 5mm holes, and a healing colostomy site (3 inches). Patient pain is way, way down, fluid requirements are down. The operation was challenging, but not technically impossible. Adhesions and prior scar tissue were the biggest difficulties. I went in with the attitude of trying to go as far as possible safely and really felt I would probably need to convert to a typical open operation at some point. As things went along, eventually, we ended up completing it laparoscopically in about 3 hours.

I hope I can do many more. They are simply better for the patient in every way I can think of.