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[video_ircad file=”anubis” ext=”flv” credits=”IRCAD”]On April 2nd 2007, at the University Hospital of Strasbourg, Professor Jacques Marescaux and his team successfully performed the first no scar surgery.
This first human incisionless operation was carried out using a flexible endoscope for transvaginal removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) in a 30-year-old woman with symptomatic gallstones.
Anubis was the ancient god in Egyptian mythology who presided over mummification and accompanied the dead to the hereafter. Anubis restored Osiris to life through mummification using long, flexible instruments. The project was named after this reference.
Operation Anubis performed without incision, represents an extremely important step towards totally non-invasive surgery. The next challenge will be to validate other approaches, the transgastric route being the most appealing.
The justification of this technique are: the reduction or absence of postoperative pain; ease of access to some organs; the absence of trauma to the abdominal wall; ideal cosmetic results and the psychological advantages of eliminating the bodily trauma represented by surgery. Lastly, this provides proof that there are no limits to how human ingenuity and technology can reduce the physical and emotional trauma related to the surgical act.
The successful performance of the operation at the University Hospital in Strasbourg, is the results of three years of research under the Anubis project, labelled by the “Therapeutic Innovation Biocluster”.
This success exemplifies the healthy collaboration between different agencies: the government for initiating a dynamic biocluster- a world renowned Research Institute (IRCAD-EITS University Louis Pasteur Strasbourg) – a leader in the field of minimally invasive surgery (Karl Storz Endoscope®)- and the University Hospital of Strasbourg, a key element responsible for a rapid transition of research into a clinical application available to patients.
This world first, called operation Anubis, was presented in Las Vegas at the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) 2007 Meeting to an enthusiastic audience.
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