More advanced than before... Gallstones in the gallbladder removed through the vagina, no more abdominal scars.

You are a woman over 40 who has always liked to eat high-fat, low-fiber foods. Every time you have a health check-up, your cholesterol levels rise every year. More importantly, you may be at risk of diabetes and being overweight. If this sounds like you, you may be at risk of gallstones.

So let’s see if you have ever had these symptoms?

• Bloating, indigestion, heartburn, gas in the stomach, especially tightness in the epigastric area after eating fatty foods
• Nausea, vomiting
• Severe abdominal pain in the upper abdomen or right side, lasting from 15 minutes to several hours, possibly radiating to the shoulder blade or right shoulder area

Or you may have no symptoms at all, but as soon as you go for a health check-up, you find out… you have gallstones and you may not want surgery… because you don’t want a scar on your abdomen, right?

It’s time to get to know… scarless transvaginal gallstone surgery

Because just a “small scar” may not be enough, wouldn’t it be better if women could have their gallstones removed without any abdominal scars at all… Dr. Angkoon Anuwong, a specialist in laparoscopic surgery at the Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, Phyathai 2 Hospital, the first surgeon in Thailand to use transvaginal gallstone surgery, has applied this method to treat patients and improved the surgical technique to make it easier.

“The first step is that the doctor makes a 0.5 cm hole at the navel to insert carbon dioxide gas. Then, a camera is inserted through the navel along with small instruments inserted through the vagina to remove the gallbladder. The surgery takes about 40 minutes, similar to conventional laparoscopic surgery. After surgery, patients experience almost no pain and can return to normal life immediately without any bothersome scars. There are only a few limitations where patients cannot undergo this method, such as those with acute cholecystitis with severe inflammation. Another case is male patients, who will be treated with conventional laparoscopic surgery through the abdomen instead.” Dr. Angkoon Anuwong

How is scarless laparoscopic gallstone surgery better than other types of surgery?

In traditional open surgery, patients have a 5-10 cm long scar, experience significant pain, and require several days of recovery. Some patients with weak abdominal walls or poor wound closure may develop hernias later. Then came laparoscopic gallstone surgery, which is popular and considered the global medical standard. It greatly reduces pain and shortens recovery time but leaves a 1-2 cm scar at the navel and 2-3 small 0.5 cm scars on the abdomen. Additionally, medical reports show that in long-term follow-up of 10-20 years, about 10% of patients develop hernias as a side effect of inadequate navel wound closure.

“But scarless transvaginal laparoscopic gallbladder surgery greatly improves patients’ quality of life because they experience almost no pain after surgery and gain confidence in their lives since there are no postoperative scars. The reason this method is emphasized for women is that women often worry about scars.” Dr. Angkoon Anuwong