Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital’s Dr. Sarat Sabharwal performed the hospital’s first laparoscopic nephrectomy this month, a milestone for patient care.
Nephrectomy, or removal of a kidney, may be necessary when a patient has recurrent kidney infections, irreversible damage, long-term obstruction or tumors that indicate kidney cancer. Laparoscopic nephrectomy – a minimally invasive approach – uses tiny incisions in the abdomen that result in decreased blood loss, less pain, plus a shorter hospital stay and recovery. Many patients are able to return to full activity within 3-4 weeks after surgery.
“Orlando Health St. Cloud is now able to offer this service to the community, a demonstration of its commitment to providing world-class healthcare close to home,” said Dr. Sabharwal. “Residents now have access to this type of surgical treatment, which can greatly improve a patient’s outcome.”
Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $9.6 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico.
Founded more than 100 years ago, Orlando Health is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level I Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level II Adult Trauma Center in Pinellas County. It is the home of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows.
The 3,429-bed system includes 29 hospitals and emergency departments – 25 of which are currently operational with four coming soon.
