Marc Bessler



Marc Bessler, MD is a bariatric surgeon in New York City. He is currently the Director of the New York Presbyterian Center for Obesity Surgery, the Director of Laparoscopic Surgery, and the Director of Network Relationships Division of General Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Bessler specializes in surgical management of morbid obesity, gastroesophageal reflux disease, laparoscopic surgery of the stomach, esophagus and hernia surgery, and natural orifice surgery. On March 20, 2007, Drs. Marc Bessler, Peter Stevens and Dennis Fowler successfully performed the first U.S. transvaginal gall bladder removal operation (cholecystectomy) with limited laparoscopic assistance as part of a larger Institutional Review Board approved study. The transvaginal surgical approach enables access to the abdominal cavity with minimal or no external incisions or scars. In this first procedure, only three small laparoscopic incisions were made as compared to the customary four substantially larger incisions needed for a traditional laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Press Coverage
The operation was covered in an April 20, 2007 New York Times feature about the surgical technique, known as natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery, or NOTES. The groundbreaking operation was also featured in United Press International (April 20) and ABCNews.com(April 23), in addition to a May 8 New York Newsday article about NOTES procedures.

Selected Publications

 * Tumor Implantation at Laparoscopy: Is it a real problem? Bessler M. Surgical Endoscopy. 12:1288-9; 1998.
 * Peritoneal Irrigation with Betadine Solution Following Laparoscopic Splenectomy Significantly Decreases Port Tumor Recurrence in a Murine Model. Lee S., Gleason N., Woodring J., Seplowitz R., Bessler M., Whelan R.L. Diseases of the Colon and Rectum. 41(4)A24; 1998.
 * Minimal Access Surgery. and the Biology of Cancer. Minimal Access Surgery in Oncology. Whelan R.L., Allendorf J.D.F., Bessler M. Greenwich Medical Media, London. Geraghty JG, Sackier JM, Young HL Eds. 1, 16. 1998.