Jerusalem Post – December 14, 2014
For the first time in Israel, a single incision was made in the lower lobe between the ribs at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center to remove a patient’s malignant lung tumor. Called thoracoscopy, the medical procedure is used under general anesthesia or under sedation with local anesthetic to perform minimally invasive surgery, a biopsy or an internal examination. As in laparoscopy in the abdominal cavity, a tiny video camera and surgical implements are inserted through the incision. But until now, thoracoscopy has been performed here with several incisions, which at SZMC, it was done with one, just four centimeters long.
Dr. Faras Abu Acher and Dr. Danny Fink (head of cardiothoracic surgery performed the recent surgery.
The technique was developed by a Spanish surgeon named Dr. Diego Gonzales, who visited SZMC a year ago and taught doctors there his method. After the three-hour operation, the female patient was discharged only four days later. Fink said the technique minimizes pain and scars and speeds recovery.
