BALTIMORE -- Doctors have made advancements in kidney removal by whittling the surgery down to just one incision.

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A nephrectomy is a surgery where the entire kidney is removed. In the past, it required a large incision and several weeks in the hospital until laproscopic kidney removal, which involved several smaller incisions, was developed. Currently, the single incision nephrectomy is available.

Dena Hicks, 25, had a kidney removed two months ago. She said her problems started with back pain, but doctors eventually found a mass on her kidney.

"They biopsied it and found it was cancer," Hicks said. She admitted it was shocking.

Mercy Medical Center urologist Dr. Todd Oberle removed Hicks' kidney with a single, small incision in her belly button.

"The techniques are not unlike laproscopic surgery. We use longer instruments and curved instruments that allow us to safely dissect the kidney out," Oberle said.

He said one of the big benefits is cosmetic -- something that was important to Hicks.

"I actually thought I was cut from here to my back when I woke up from anesthesia, but it was just a little incision from my belly button," Hicks said.

"Our first goal when we operate is to control the cancer and do the right operation, so this surgery is not for everyone, but it is an exciting advancement as we try to become more minimally invasive in the treatment of cancer," Oberle said.

There are only a few centers around the country offering the single incision nephrectomy, and Mercy is one of them. The Cleveland Clinic is experimenting using the single incision surgery for kidney donors.