Ryan Schader is getting mileage out of his last days of summer. It's hard to believe the eight year old recently underwent major surgery to remove his spleen. He's as active as ever and he has no scar.

"Because no one can see it," says Ryan.

He can thank Dr. Sanjeev Dutta at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. He performed the stealth surgery by going in through the belly button and using a special camera.

"The way that it's done is first I make a small incision in the belly button and create an area I can work in, just under the skin. Then I put a number of ports, what we call ports which are little conduits, that allow me to place long chopstick like instruments into the abdominal cavity," says Dr. Dutta.

Dr. Dutta removes the organ by putting it in a bag, and taking in out in small pieces through the navel. For Ryan it meant a quick recovery.

"It didn't hurt at all and I was only in the hospital for three days,” says Ryan.

Compare that to a weeks hospital stay with traditional surgery. Ryan's mom was relieved her son had a better experience than she did.

"I’ve had the same surgery as him. I have a scar from one side of my stomach to the other. He's not going to have any scars," says Elaine Schader.

This approach is not just for diseased spleens. Dr. Dutta has also gone in through the belly button to take out a gall bladder and an appendix.

Ryan's younger sister Katie has the same condition and will also need the same surgery in a few years. But like her big brother, she won't have to worry about a scar.
The risks of the surgery are the same as patients face who have traditional surgery.