LMH Offers Scar-Free Surgery

Lawrence Memorial Hospital 1st in Region to Offer Scar-Free Gallbladder Surgery

A major concern for many patients going in for surgery is the type of scar they will experience when the procedure is completed. Thanks to a new procedure recently introduced at Hallmark Health System’s Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford that is no longer a concern for some patients.

The Single Incision Laparoscopic (SILS) procedure, a new type of gallbladder removal surgery that leaves virtually no scars, is now being performed by Andras Sandor, MD (pictured at left) at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, making the hospital the first in the region to offer the procedure. The laparoscopic procedure removes the gallbladder through a small incision in the belly button and as a result the scar from the procedure is hidden, alleviating a concern for many patients.

“We are very proud to be the first hospital in the region to offer this next generation procedure to our patients,” said Dr. Sandor. “My patients have done very well with this new procedure. They have all gone home the same day that they had the surgery.”

Approximately 500,000 gallbladder surgeries are performed in the United States each year. The gallbladder is removed in the event that the organ is infected or inflamed or because of gallstones.

Like other laparoscopic procedures the benefits of the SILS procedure include a shorter length of stay in the hospital, less pain and as a result less of a need for pain medication. The innovative procedure also allows patients to get back to work and regular life sooner. With the SILS procedure patients have the added benefit of no scars.

The SILS procedure is just the latest in a list of advancements that have been made to gallbladder surgery over the years. When the surgery was first performed it included a large incision on the upper right side of the abdomen and later when laparoscopic surgery became the standard of care that changed to four small incisions. Now with the new procedure patients virtually have no scar.

This procedure is part of a long list of advanced surgical procedures being offered at Hallmark Health. Surgeons at Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital perform more than 12,000 operations per year, and many of them are laparoscopic. These board-certified surgeons have pioneered new procedures for the region and led the way in advanced technology.

Dr. Sandor is board certified in general surgery and has a special interest in advanced laparoscopic procedures. In addition to performing the SILS procedure, Dr. Sandor also routinely performs laparoscopic weight loss surgery including gastric bypass and Lap Band surgeries at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, which has been named a Center of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery.

Dr. Sandor attended medical school in Hungary before coming to the United States and completing his post-graduate research fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, subsequent residency and laparoscopic surgical clinical fellowship at UMASS Medical Center. He is co-author of more than 30 scientific publications, seven book chapters and has presented his results at national and international scientific conferences.

For more information about Hallmark Health, visit www.hallmarkhealth.org or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/hallmarkhealth.

Hallmark Health System is the premier, charitable provider of vital health services to Boston’s northern communities. The system includes Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford; Melrose Wakefield Hospital, Melrose; Hallmark Health Cancer Center, Stoneham; The CHEM Center for MRI, Stoneham; Hallmark Health Medical Center, Reading; Hallmark Health VNA and Hospice, Malden; Lawrence Memorial/Regis College Nursing and Radiography Programs, Medford and Hallmark Health Medical Associates, Inc. Hallmark Health is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital for cardiology and Tufts Medical Center for neonatology.

– Information from Hallmark Health