Surgeon Performs Unique Surgery

Published January 2002 in HeartBeat 
Information for the employees and friends of Sacred Heart Hospital

Seth Smith, MD, of Evergreen Surgical, recently performed a procedure new to the community called laparoscopic pancreatic resection.

The procedure uses small incisions instead of large incisions, which reduces Hospital stay for patients. Once the incisions are made, a camera is used to view the pancreas. During the procedure, Smith resected the pancreatic tail to remove a serous cystadenoma, which is a benign pancreatic tumor. 

"Performing the procedure was a privilege because this type of surgery is unique to our community," Smith, says. "Advantages to this surgery include less pain and a quicker recovery for the patient." In the past, patients who received larger incisions stayed in the Hospital for a week. With laparoscopic surgery, patient Hospital stay is lessened to a few days.