NEW ORLEANS, Oct 19, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A surgeon at New Orleans' Tulane
University said he used extreme cold to freeze tumors and kill cancer cells
inside of a patient.
Tulane urologist Dr. Benjamin Lee said instead of using conventional surgical
methods to deal with Joseph Davis' kidney cancer, he used specially-designed
instruments to freeze the patient's tumors using a mixture of nitrogen and
argon, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune said Monday.
The use of the tiny instruments meant Lee only had to make an incision in Davis'
midsection no larger than a quarter.
Davis, 65, said he was shocked with how much could be done to aid his body
through such a small incision.
"I was amazed at what they could do through that opening with those tools … to
manipulate the tools and not destroy you in the process," Davis said of the
technique used in his March 30 procedure.
Unidentified experts told the Times-Picayune that a typical kidney cancer
surgery results in a foot-long incision in the patient and occasionally the
removal of a rib.
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