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Tiny surgical instruments are revolutionising the treatment of babies, it was revealed today.
Doctors at the Royal London Hospital are using specially-designed tools such as forceps and clamps which are only three millimetres wide.
This means surgeons can now perform keyhole surgery on babies as young as three weeks.
Conventional equipment is too big for babies under the age of six months or weighing less than five kilograms. Smaller incisions mean the baby is spared large scars and can avoid complications including fibrous tissues called adhesions.
Niall Jones, paediatric consultant at the Royal London, said: "The use of small equipment has a number of advantages over open surgery. For example, we can avoid invasive access into the abdomen, which can be quite traumatic for a newborn."
He added: "As the incisions are so small, babies recover quicker, can begin feeding normally quicker and can go home with their parents sooner; they will also have less noticeable scars as they get older."
Keyhole surgery was pioneered in the Eighties and doctors are now developing methods which don't need incisions, such as removing organs through the mouth.
But the surgery on babies is relatively new and doctors have been restricted in operations they could perform. The Royal London is one of only a handful of hospitals with the new equipment.
