What is Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS)?  Simply put, its surgery done through one incision.  Well, that’s traditionally how abdominal surgery has always been done, via one long incision to access the abdominal cavity.  Surgery then progressed in the 1990’s to minimally invasive or laparoscopic surgery.  In laparoscopic surgery, surgeons make several small incisions, often less than an inch each, to allow placement of trocars to enter the abdomen and allow passage of instruments to operate.  Now in SILS, we do the same surgery through just one small incision, often at the belly button.  This eliminates the multiple small incisions spread out throughout the abdominal wall that were made in traditional laparoscopic surgery.  Often the incision at the belly button can be hidden so that your abdomen almost looks scar-less!!!

General surgeons started performing SILS for a variety of cases, including gallbladder removal, appendectomies, colon surgery, anti-reflux surgery, hernia repairs, and solid organ operations.  Not only do we perform those surgeries here at TLC Surgery, we also perform weight loss surgeries via SILS also.  TLC Surgery performed the first SILS Lap Band and Realize Band surgeries in Houston.  Often in adjustable gastric banding, a 3-4cm incision is needed to place the port for the band.  Traditionally, we would then make 4 additional 5-10mm incisions for additional trocars.  Now the port incision is usually the only incision seen after surgery!  In addition, we also performed the first SILS sleeve gastrectomy in Texas.  In that surgery, 5 incisions ranging also from 5-12mm were made.  Now we do the surgery through one incision at the belly button that often cannot be seen after its healed. We now routinely offer these operations to our patients.  That is the TLC Difference!

What does this mean to our patients?  First and foremost, we believe in providing our patients with the safest surgery possible.  Then we try and do the surgery as minimally invasive as possible because we believe that will reduce post-operative pain and recovery time.  If we can do everything through just one incision, often hiding it in the belly button, then our patients have the best cosmetic outcome possible too.  To us, the patient comes first and we feel we provide them with the best of all worlds with our SILS procedures.

An option that provides for lessened recovery time, pain and results that are aesthetically pleasing is the STARR Treatment. For more information, please visit STARR Treatment and Dr. Yu/Dr. Scarborough will be able to answer any questions that you may have with this procedure