BBC NEWS | Health | Donor kidney removed via vagina

BBC NEWS | Health | Donor kidney removed via vagina: "US surgeons say they have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.

Removing the kidney through 'a natural orifice' speeds up recovery and gives a better cosmetic result - avoiding a six inch abdominal scar - they say."
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"Surgeons have also removed gallbladders and appendixes through the mouth.

Diseased gallbladders, kidneys and appendixes have been removed through the vagina before.

But this is believed to be the first time that doctors have managed to harvest a healthy donor kidney for transplantation in this way.

Dr Robert Montgomery, chief of the transplant division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Maryland, who led the team that performed the operation, said: "Surgeons have been troubled by the need to make a relatively large incision in the patient's abdomen after completing the nephrectomy to extract the donor kidney.

"That incision is thought to significantly add to the patient's pain, hospitalisation and convalescence. Removing the kidney through a natural opening should hasten the patient's recovery and provide a better cosmetic result.""