Henrico Doctors' Hospital performed last month the first one-incision laparoscopic procedure ever in the Mid-Atlantic States Region. The one-incision gallbladder removal was performed by making  a single small incision hidden within the navel.

Dr. William E. Kelley Jr. performed the one-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a Richmond man with gallbladder disease. Additionally, the patient required common bile duct exploration. "The patient did very well following surgery and was discharged the next day," said Kelley. "He can expect to resume driving in three days and will very rapidly return to his normal activities."

Kelley will teach the technique, developed at Drexel University in Philadelphia, to surgeons in the mid-Atlantic region. In addition to this first, Dr. Kelley was also the first surgeon in Virginia to perform traditional laparoscopic gallbladder, hernia, appendix, hiatal hernia, colon, stomach, ulcer, and adrenal surgeries as well as the first surgeon to perform robotic surgery in Virginia, all at Henrico Doctors' Hospital. More.