Cancer patients who require surgery end up with many surgical scars - a reminder of their dreadful ordeal.
However, single incision surgery - already being used in the removal of gallstones - is now being offered to colorectal cancer patients here.
Early-stage colorectal cancer patients at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) can opt for single incision surgery - or single cut surgery - which leaves no scars. This is because only one 2cm cut is made at the patient's navel which conceals the scar.
Its use is novel for cancers in the colon - it was only in June this year that hospitals in the United States reportedly embarked on its use for colorectal cancer.
Since last month, SGH has performed eight such operations on patients. Some have Stage 1 and 2 colorectal cancer - cancer of the colon or rectum - which is one of the top cancers here.
The common surgical method for colorectal cancer at most hospitals is laparoscopic surgery or keyhole surgery, where four 5 - 10mm cuts are made around the abdomen.
Keyhole surgery, in use since the early 1990s, is widely used to treat other forms of illnesses as well.
Costs for both techniques are roughly the same and they also share the benefits of a quicker recovery and reduced pain for the patient. The drawback of keyhole surgery is the three to four visible scars left behind by the additional cuts done during the operation.
On the other hand, single incision surgery - or Single-Incision Lap Colorectal Surgery (Silacs) - is far more complicated, said Professor Eu Kong Weng, head of SGH's department of colorectal surgery.
He said a 2cm cut is made at the naval and a rubber port housing surgical tools and a camera has to go through that opening. All this means a smaller and restrictive work area for the surgeon, Prof Eu added.
Likening the surgical tools to long metal chopsticks, he said the surgeon now has to navigate the 'chopsticks' through just one channel instead of the three or four channels available in keyhole surgery.
It is through this single opening that a section, or even the entire colon, is removed.
Prof Eu said that over the next two years, more training will be provided for local surgeons as more single incision operations are done.
Since April, National University Hospital (NUH) has started offering single cut operations to patients with conditions such as gallstones, stomach tumours, inflamed appendices and hernias.
Dr Stephen Chang, a consultant at NUH's University Surgical Cluster, said that to date, NUH has carried out more than 20 such operations.
