Sleeve Gastrectomy with No Visible Scars?
Mr Clough has designed a technique to perform sleeve gastrectomy with minimal scarring.
The difference is as follows:
Most sleeve gastrectomy techniques involve a five cut technique whereby the cuts are spread over the upper abdomen in a fairly prominent location
Mr Clough’s minimally invasive technique uses the body’s natural “portal”, the belly button to hide the most prominent cut. When this cut is performed in just the right place, it is effectively invisible once the healing process has occurred.
It is necessary to use two further 5mm cuts in the upper abdomen to complete the operation, however these will usually fade over time to become virtually invisible (except on very close inspection).
An alternative to this technique is “Single Incision Surgery” whereby the entire operation is performed through the belly button. This poses considerable technical challenges however and may potentially compromise the safety of the operation. In addition the cut at the umbilicus may have to be larger.
With Mr Clough’s three port technique, the procedure is almost as easy to perform as a standard five port approach and the visible scarring after 12 months or so is virtually zero.
Appearance of abdominal scars over 12 months after three port sleeve gastrectomy
Disclaimer:
The outcome of this technique cosmetically is not always predictable. People heal and scar very differently and there are some patients whose scars are still prominent months or years down the track, particularly those prone to keloid scarring.