MANILA, Philippines - Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa underwent gall bladder surgery at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City yesterday morning.
The procedure is called laparoscopic cholecystectomy, according to director Katherine Adraneda from the Office of the Executive Secretary.
“The executive secretary has recently undergone a minor surgical procedure... to address gall bladder problems. The procedure was successful and he is currently recovering from the surgery at home,” she said.
Marilen Tronqued-Lagniton, the hospital’s vice president for customer affairs, said the 51-year-old Ochoa was brought to the hospital on Saturday.
Tronqued said Ochoa’s main attending physician is the director of the hospital’s heart institute, Dr. Jose Nicholas Cruz.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, according to the website www.medicine.net, is “a less invasive way to remove the gallbladder.”
“It uses a laparoscope (an instrument used to see the inside of your body) to remove the gallbladder (and) is performed through several small incisions rather than through one large incision,” the website said. – With Delon Porcalla