Pioneering micro surgery to treat people with kidney stones has been successfully trialled at the Royal London Hospital.

Surgeons are utilising instruments which are up to 70 per cent smaller than those normally used for keyhole surgery to remove stones for patients.

Among those to benefit so far is medical research technician Graham Edgley from Stratford, who had suffered excruciating pain form the stones for seven months before being treated.

“I was keen to have this new procedure as it is a lot cleaner and more hygienic than the older operation where stones are broken up and instead of being suctioned out, which is how this new method works, are scooped up with the risk of bits being left behind”, he said.

“The scar is very, very small. You have to look really closely to see it.”

The team at the Whitechapel hospital is the first in the UK to make use of the implements.