Incisions

1. Kocher

Biliary or hepatic procedures. May be extended across to a left subcostal incision to give useful access to the stomach and pancreas.

2. Midline

General access. Usually skirts the umbilicus. Quick and bloodless.

3. McBurney

Appendicectomy. Muscle layers are split, rather than cut.

4. Battle

Appendicectomy. No longer used because it produces an ugly scar and sometimes incisional hernia. Often seen in older patients therefore.

5. Lanz

Appendicectomy. A better cosmetic result than McBurney

6. Paramedian

General access. Left or right according to requirements.

7. Transverse

General access. Almost always used in infants, and often in adults.

8. Rutherford Morison

Access to sigmoid colon and pelvis, particularly if the midline is very scarred from previous surgery.

9. Pfannenstiel

Access to bladder, uterus, Fallopian tubes and ovaries. Good cosmetic result but gives no access outside the pelvis.

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