A team made up of Urology and Gynecology specialists from the University Hospital of Torrevieja carried out the removal of the left kidney from a 55 year old woman through her vagina last week leaving no visible signs or external scars.

This is a new technique, a landmark of modern surgery, which takes advantage of natural orifices to prevent scarring. The technique also improves the process of postoperative recovery, according to a statement from the hospital.

The removal of the was performed without and incisions in the abdomen that would usually be necessary in a laparoscopia- extraction, but "it was said to be quite a complicated procedure, particularly as the patient was nulliparous, having never given birth with a particularly narrow vagina, He said the collaboration of Gynaecology "as optional sources.

However, through this technique, the patient "suffers less pain, caused by the incision, which reduces the possibility of complications in the abdominal wall (hemorrhage, infection, evisceration and postoperative hernia)".

This technique, in which Spain is a world leader, first came into use in 2007 and is based on the use of body orifices to enter into or to remove organs.

The Torrevieja Hospital has recently celebrated its eighth anniversary, having first opened its doors on November 21, 2006, during which time the Torrevieja center has strengthened both its medical teams and improved the quality of its performance making it one of the leading medical facilities in the region.

On its anniversary the manager of Torreviejas Department of Health Torrevieja, Dr. Jose Antonio Velasco, said " in a relatively short period the hospital has achieved an excellent degree of maturity ".

He praised the effort, commitment and quality of care of the “professionals who work together to give people personalised and superior care, which has been manifested in awards from patients, families, scientific institutions and society in general."

Amongst the data provided, the head of the center highlighted over 135,000 procedures performed with a rate of CMA (surgery that requires no further treatment) of 73.5%. Referring to the consultations, he said there have been nearly two million hospital appointments.

The hospital has treated a total of 560,000 emergency cases, for an average waiting time of 35 minutes and the maternity wing has assisted with more than 10,500 births since the center opened.

To commemorate the anniversary many of the staff donated a gift in support of a school project in Peru to educate native communities in the Amazon rainforest, from which 2,500 children will benefit.

The mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, has this week expressed his satisfaction in the amount of investment grants awarded by the central government to the city, for the 2015 to 2018 fiscal period. Of the 28 million euro destined to Torrevieja...

Doctors from the Torrevieja Hospital have offered advice on caring for children during the summer holidays because they say "babies and young children aoe very sensitive to heat, as an infant's skin burns more deeply and much quicker than an adult, who is not always attentive to their situation.”

They advise using sunscreens with physical filters which should be applied fairly frequently, although they do not recommend their use in children who are under 6 months. Neither do they recommend exposing such children to the summer sun who they say should be protected with long-sleeved shirts or hats.

For swimmers who are stung by a jellyfish the experts say "wash the area with salt water to rinse the tentacles off, do not use fresh water and do not rub the affected area.

Remove any remaining tentacles with a gloved hand, stick, shell or tweezers. If you use bare hands to pluck tentacles off, you'll most likely get stung on the fingers. That's also why it's so important to remove them. If you don't the victim will keep getting stung until all the nematocysts (fluid sacs) are used up."

For insect bites they recommend that you carefully remove the sting with tweezers and never squeeze or scratch the area because it can be pushed more deeply into the skin.

In order to raise awareness about the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, throughout the year a number of healthcare professionals have recently toured many local schools and centres where they have provide advice on preventive measures against various diseases and ailments.

The councillor for works and services in the city of Torrevieja, Javier Montoro, has announced that piped natural gas has been delivered to the first customers in the city this week. Gas Natural Cegas has been laying the foundations for the network fo...

A motorbike rider, believed to be 20 years of age, was seriously injured in the early hours of Sunday morning in a crash with a car on the CV-905 in the San Luis area of Torrevieja. The incident occurred at 03:20 at kilometre 7 of the road, in the vic...

The Guardia Civil is investigating the case of a 65 year old woman who was rushed into Torrevieja Hospital after falling from the balcony of a block of flats on the Avenida de las Habaneras on Tuesday. Fortunately the drop was cushioned slightly when ...

A person has been injured after being hit by a vehicle on the CV-905 road in Rojales. A call for assistance was received at 03:10 in Sunday morning, with an emergency ambulance being dispatched to the scene. The medical crew found a 19 year old victi...

This week, María Bermúdez and Ramón Fernández, welcomed a new addition to their family, as baby Ramón was born in Torrevieja hospital. An everyday occurrence perhaps, but the one thing that sets this birth aside from ...

Representative of the Compromís group in Orihuela, Mireia Mollà, is demanding that the minister for health, Manuel Llombart, takes urgent action regarding building the outstanding health centre of Rabaloche. Mollà says that the neighbours of the area have been waiting “too long” and faced nothing but “false promises” from the PP government, after the original building was closed in 2003, and was budgeted for in 2011, but removed the next year, which shows “This lack of political will by the Valencian Government translates into more than 25,000 people having to be treated in barracks”, and that there “cannot be any more excuses for the implementation of this health center”, and to say that the PP government will “perhaps begins to build it within a year and a half is an insult to the citizens”.

Residents of the Pilar neighbourhood of Pinar de Campoverde will be able to take advantage of having a primary care doctor based in their health centre from this week, after the council made various changes in order to ensure that the department of health in Torrevieja were able to provide the required staff. The mayor, José Fidel Ros, visited the office along with the medical director of Primary Care Department, Hipólito Caro, in order to study the infrastructure and optimise the space to meet the needs of a population that has increased in this area. Hipólito Caro said that “this action is part of the commitment of Torrevieja Salud with the town of Pilar de la Horadada and the Consistory to meet the care needs of the population”. The new doctor will take care of about 500 health cards and will result in the medical facilities opening for two days a week.

The Asociación de Vecinos de San Miguel de Salinas are once again calling for the department of health to reinstate one of the Doctors removed from their health centre as a cost saving exercise. The group are demanding that the government satisfy the requirements of providing health care to the community.

The Spanish National transplant organisation, the ONT, have this week broken the record for the number of organ transplants performed in a single day. From a total of 16 donors, 2 of whom were living, Spanish doctors transplanted 26 kidneys, 10 livers, 5 hearts, 3 lungs and a pancreas, in operations performed in 22 hospitals from 11 autonomous regions. The 45 transplant record beats the 36 previously recorded.

Torrevieja Hospital has received yet another award for excellence, having been announced the winner for the best clinical professional session presented during 2013. A number of doctors from the hospital were present in accepting the award which honoured a paper entitled “Viewpoints," a case of multidisciplinary approach that addresses myasthenia gravis”, which was aimed at strengthening and energizing the “concept of quality care, research and teaching”, through customization in assisting patients.

Accompanied by banners calling for the “right to live with dignity” for pensioners and retirees, a large group of people concentrated in Torrevieja´s Plaza de la Constitución on Thursday to protest against the “attacks” by Spain´s central government against the rights to pensions and retirement through the labour reforms, particularly complaining over the loss of purchasing power and pharmacist repayment.