Donor Kidney Removed through Vagina allows Donor Release Same Day

In what is being heralded as a "first-ever procedure," surgeons removed a healthy kidney through a donor's vagina, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center has announced.

the January 29 surgery was the first time it was done for donation purposes, the center said in a news release issued Monday.

This procedure is done by inserting "wand-like cameras and tools" through small incisions in the abdomen and navel.

Doctors then insert a hollow tube through the vagina with a bag at the end.

Once the kidney is cut loose, surgeons use video from the cameras to guide them as they maneuver the bag around the organ, place it in the tube and pull it out through the vaginal opening, Montgomery said.

A kidney weighs approximately one pound and is roughly the size of a clenched hand.

He added, "delivering a kidney from the vagina, which is not sterile -- is it a potential risk or a real risk? We'll find out now."

Kaouk also expressed concern over the quality of the kidney once it has been squeezed into a tube.

"If you asked our patient, she said it was like getting a tooth removed. She was walking that night and left the next day," Montgomery said.

"Removing the kidney through a natural opening should hasten the patient's recovery and provide a better cosmetic result," Montgomery said.

He told CNN on Tuesday, "We want to make it easier for people to donate, to have less impact on their lives, [be] in hospital a shorter amount of time and get back to their lives quicker."