It seems impossible–weight-loss surgery that leaves no scar…at least no scar that can be seen.
Existing laparoscopic surgical techniques have come close. Great advances in minimally invasive bariatric surgery have led to techniques for LAP-BAND and REALIZE gastric band surgery that are conducted through just 5 or 6 small incisions.
Recently, an even newer method called Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery, or SILS, has allowed surgeons to perform these procedures with just one incision, but, in most cases, that two-inch cut in the abdominal wall will still leave a visible mark.
Weight-Loss Surgery with No Visible Scarring Offered by Austin Area Surgeon
A bariatric surgeon in Austin, Texas, Dr. Sashi Ganta has developed an even more discreet technique for use in LAP-BAND surgery that requires only one small incision in the umbilicus—that is, the belly button—which is effectively invisible following the surgery. He performed the first procedure using this method in 2008.
According to Dr. Ganta, “With the emergence of new techniques such as SILS or single-incision laparoscopic surgery, individuals seeking gastric banding for obesity now can choose to not have any visible scarring. This new technique …allows patients to have significantly improved cosmetic results and possibly less pain and a faster recovery."
How Does Single Incision Lab Band Surgery (SILS) Work?
Dr. Ganta calls this technique TUGB, for Trans-Umbilical Gastric Banding. He pioneered this approach, which uses a SILS port device to enter the body through the belly button. According to his website, “The port is tunneled via the belly button incision into the standard location and secured in the standard fashion.”
According to an article in Healthcare & Hospital News, most “single incision” procedures for lap band placement in fact require a second incision to allow access with another tool to retract the liver in order to allow access to the stomach.
Dr. Ganta, however, developed a new technique to retract the liver through the original incision. This new "Ganta stitch" “eliminates the need for an extra small incision for liver retractor placement thereby allowing for a true single incision LAP-BAND® placement via the umbilicus leaving no visible scars on the abdomen.”
Dr Ganta feels that the approach not only provides a better post-operative appearance but reduces discomfort and the danger of infection as well as recovery time needed. Dr. Ganta also feels the new approach will be more affordable: “the emergence of longer and innovative instruments such as ‘SILS port’ allows patients seeking the single-incision lapband surgery to have one more affordable bariatric surgery option."
A resident of Austin, Dr. Ganta received his medical training in the U.S., England, and India, including an advanced fellowship in laparoscopic surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine. In Austin and in Central Texas, his Austin Institute of Bariatrics and Laparoscopy (AIBL) is recognized as one of the top weight-loss surgery centers in Texas, and Dr. Ganta himself as one of the most experienced bariatric surgeons in the region.