Italian hospitals perform innovative minimally invasive procedures

Medical teams at two Italian hospitals have successfully performed advanced, minimally invasive procedures to treat complex conditions without traditional open surgery.

At Mater Salutis Hospital in Legnago, gastroenterology and endoscopy specialists led by Luca Benazzato used a cholangioscope and electrohydraulic lithotripsy to pulverize a giant gallstone. The procedure allowed doctors to treat a patient with severe cholangitis by fragmenting the stone via shock waves and extracting the pieces endoscopically, avoiding the need for major surgery.

At Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, a multidisciplinary team including specialists in anesthesia, endoscopy, and radiology successfully treated an ALS patient suffering from repeated sigmoid colon obstructions. To avoid the high risks associated with traditional surgery for neurodegenerative patients, the team used a technique to fix the intestine to the abdominal wall through small anchors inserted via tiny skin openings.