SCIENCE / MEDICINE : A First for Local Anesthetic

University of Maryland surgeons say they have performed what they believe is the nation’s first gallbladder surgery using only a local anesthetic.

The patient, a 32-year-old opera singer who did not want a general anesthetic for fear of damage to her vocal cords, had gallbladder surgery recently by an incision through her navel.

University surgeons have had success with the operation, performing about 100 of the procedures since October, but had never before completed the operation with only local anesthesia.

Doctors said most patients with problems such as gallstones could have the surgery in an ambulatory setting and be discharged the same day. Surgeons use a laparascope, a tube with a tiny lens on one end and a miniature video camera at the other end, to puncture the abdomen and reach the gallbladder.