If you have a scar, you know it can make you self-conscious. No one knows that more than kids. But now one California doctor has developed a new approach to major surgery that leaves no scars in his young patients. Marianne Favro explains how he does it.

Ryan Schader is getting mileage out of his last days of summer. It's hard to believe the eight-year-old recently underwent major surgery to remove his spleen. He's as active as ever and he has no scar.

Ryan Schader, patient: "because no one can see it."

He can thank Dr. Sanjeev Duttah at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. He performed the stealth surgery by going in through the the belly button and using a special camera.

Dr. Sanjeev Dutta, pediatric surgeon: "The way that it's done is first I make a small incision in the belly button and create an area I can work in, just under the skin. Then I put a number of ports, what we call ports, which are little conduits, that allow me to place long chopstick-like instruments into the abdominal cavity."

Dr. Dutta removes the organ by putting it in a bag and taking it out in small pieces through the navel. For Ryan it meant a quick recovery.

Ryan Schader, patient: "It didn't hurt at all and I was only in the hospital for three days."

Compare that to a week's hospital stay with traditional surgery. Ryan's mom was relieved her son had a better experience than she did.

Elaine Schader, Ryan's mother: "I've had the same surgery as him. I have a scar from one side of my stomach to the other. He's not going to have any scars."

This approach is not just for diseased spleens. Dr. Dutta has also gone in through the belly button to take out a gall bladder and an appendix.

Ryan's younger sister Katie has the same condition and will also need the same surgery in a few years. But like her big brother, she won't have to worry about a scar.

Risks of this surgery include bleeding, but they are the same risks patients who have the traditional surgery face.