Eiji Minami, MD, a surgeon at Overlake Medical Center, performed his 100th da Vinci Single-Site Cholecystectomy on Thursday, July 25. The patient’s gallbladder was removed through one tiny incision in the belly button, making the procedure virtually scarless.

Gallbladder removal is known as a cholecystectomy and can be performed using open surgery through a large incision, minimally invasively through a few small incisions or through one small incision in the belly button. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the specialized Single-Site instruments for use with the da Vinci System in December 2011. da Vinci is a robotic surgical system widely used in complex minimally invasive surgery.

Minami was trained on the da Vinci Surgical System in December 2011 and attended further advanced Single-Site training in May, 2012. He was one of the first surgeons in the area to offer laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the 1990s.

“Neither robotic surgery nor single-incision surgery is new, but combining the two to remove the gallbladder requires additional training and special equipment,” said Helene Schultz, Overlake’s director of surgery. “To be one of the most experienced hospitals to offer this technically advanced surgery demonstrates Overlake’s leadership in providing patients with the most up-to-date minimally invasive surgical options.”

Potential benefits of single-site gallbladder surgery may include virtually scarless results, minimal pain, low blood loss, fast recovery, a short hospital stay and high patient satisfaction.

The surgery can be performed in about one hour with a typical hospital stay of less than 24 hours.

Overlake Medical Center offers various types of robotic-assisted surgeries. In addition to gallbladder removal, Overlake surgeons perform robotic-assisted surgery in colorectal, urology, general surgery, gynecology and weight loss surgery.