What is laparoscopy used for?
Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgery or keyhole surgery that helps diagnose and treat many health conditions. A laparoscope is a thin, flexible tube with a light and small video camera on the end. The tube is put into a small surgical cut made through the abdominal wall near the belly button. A second or third incision may also be made in other parts of the belly to put in other operating instruments. By making the small incision, the surgeon can see images of the required organ on the video monitor and treat the organs without being invasive to the human body. There are a few reasons why laparoscopy may be used
- Having problems in the abdomen (belly) and pelvis: Laparoscopy helps to look for the problems that may be causing discomfort in the belly and pelvis.
- Suspicious area that might be cancer: Laparoscopy can be used to remove or take biopsy samples of lymph nodes in the pelvis or abdomen. It is commonly used for people with gynecologic cancers (cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer).
- To treat a small cancer: Laparoscopy can be used to treat small cancers in areas such as the ovaries, uterus , cervix , colon and kidney.
What are the medical conditions that laparoscopy helps diagnose?
Laparoscopies are widely used to diagnose many different conditions
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID): This is a bacterial infection of the female upper genital tract, including the womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries.
- Endometriosis: This is the presence of endometrial tissue, the womb lining, outside the womb.
- Ectopic pregnancy: This is a pregnancy that develops outside the womb.
- Ovarian cyst: This is a fluid-filled sac that develops on a woman's ovary.
- Fibroids: These are non-cancerous tumors that grow in or around the uterus (womb).
- Undescended testicles: This is a common childhood condition where a boy is born without one or both testicles in their scrotum.
- Appendicitis: This is a painful swelling of the appendix (a small pouch-like structure connected to the large intestine).
Cancers that can be diagnosed using laparoscopy include
- Liver cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Cancer of the bile duct
- Cancer of the gallbladder
What are the medical conditions that can be treated using laparoscopy?
Laparoscopic surgery may be used to treat different conditions including
- Removing a swollen appendix
- Removing the gallbladder to treat gallstones
- Removing a section of the intestine to treat digestive conditions, such as Crohn's disease or diverticulitis, that do not respond to medications
- Repairing hernias such as those found in the groin
- Repairing burst or bleeding stomach ulcers
- Performing weight loss surgery
- Removing some or all of an organ affected by cancer such as the ovaries, prostate, liver, colon, kidney or bladder
- Treating ectopic pregnancy by removing the embryo to prevent damage to the fallopian tubes
- Removing abnormal growths such as fibroids
- Removing the womb (hysterectomy) to treat pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis, heavy periods or painful periods
What are the benefits and risks of laparoscopy?
Laparoscopy has many benefits which include
- Pain after laparoscopic surgery is less.
- Recovery from laparoscopic surgery is generally faster.
- Smaller incisions allow the patient’s wounds to heal faster and have smaller scars.
- The risk of infection and complications is lower.
Risks include
- Laparoscopy may sometimes take longer to perform than open surgery.
- Patients may be under anesthesia for a longer time, which may increase the risk of complications.
- Sometimes, complications do not appear right away but occur a few days to a few weeks after surgery.
- Bleeding or a hernia (a bulge caused by poor healing) at the incision sites
- Internal bleeding
- Infection
- Damage to a blood vessel or other organ, such as the stomach, bowel, bladder or uterus
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Common Medical Abbreviations & Terms
Doctors, pharmacists, and other health-care professionals use abbreviations, acronyms, and other terminology for instructions and information in regard to a patient's health condition, prescription drugs they are to take, or medical procedures that have been ordered. There is no approved this list of common medical abbreviations, acronyms, and terminology used by doctors and other health- care professionals. You can use this list of medical abbreviations and acronyms written by our doctors the next time you can't understand what is on your prescription package, blood test results, or medical procedure orders. Examples include:
- ANED: Alive no evidence of disease. The patient arrived in the ER alive with no evidence of disease.
- ARF: Acute renal (kidney) failure
- cap: Capsule.
- CPAP: Continuous positive airway pressure. A treatment for sleep apnea.
- DJD: Degenerative joint disease. Another term for osteoarthritis.
- DM: Diabetes mellitus. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
- HA: Headache
- IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease. A name for two disorders of the gastrointestinal (BI) tract, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis
- JT: Joint
- N/V: Nausea or vomiting.
- p.o.: By mouth. From the Latin terminology per os.
- q.i.d.: Four times daily. As in taking a medicine four times daily.
- RA: Rheumatoid arthritis
- SOB: Shortness of breath.
- T: Temperature. Temperature is recorded as part of the physical examination. It is one of the "vital signs."
How Long Does Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass Surgery Take?
Gastric bypass surgery is a weight loss procedure that takes about two to three hours. In this surgery, usually reserved for morbidly obese people who haven't responded to diet and exercise, a surgeon makes changes to the stomach and small intestine to alter the way you absorb and digest the food.
How Long Does a Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication Last?
Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication is a minimally invasive procedure to treat severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication helps to strengthen the lower esophageal sphincter muscle by reducing the potential for stomach acid to move back up into the esophagus.
How Long Does It Take to Recover from Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Surgery?
A laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is a routine surgery to repair a weakness or perforation in the muscle or tissue in the abdominal cavity. Most people can return to normal activities in two weeks, but may need to avoid heavy lifting.
Is Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy Major Surgery?
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, or gallbladder removal, is a major surgery, but it's a routine and minimally invasive one. In a laparoscopic cholecystectomy the surgeon makes several small 1 inch long incisions. The surgeon inserts a thin tube with a camera (laparoscope) into the incision and removes the gallbladder with tiny surgical tools, guided by the images on the camera.
What Is Recovery Time for Laparoscopic Appendectomy?
An appendectomy is the surgical removal of vermiform appendix, attached to the the colon (cecum). A laparoscopic appendectomy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure to remove the appendix. The patient will generally be able to return normal activities within one to three weeks.
Thoracoscopic vs. Laparoscopic Myotomy
Myotomy can be performed as a laparoscopic, thoracoscopic or an open surgery.
What Is Laparoscopy in Gynecology?
Laparoscopy in gynecology (gynecological laparoscopy) is a less invasive alternative to open surgery. The procedure involves using a laparoscope (a long, thin tube with a light connected to a camera) to look inside the pelvic area to diagnose gynecological disorders or to perform surgery to treat gynecological conditions.What Is Open and Laparoscopic Resection Rectopexy?
Resection rectopexy is one of the surgeries that repair a rectal prolapse. Your rectum is the last part of your intestine which helps in expulsion of the feces out of your anus. Weakness of the muscles that hold the rectum in place may cause it to drop, partially or completely protruding through the anus. This condition is known as rectal prolapse, and surgery is the only option to treat it.What Is Operative Laparoscopy?
Operative laparoscopy is a type of minimally invasive surgery that is useful in the diagnosis and treatment of abdominal disorders. Laparoscopy involves the insertion of a thin, flexible, tube-like instrument into the patient’s abdomen.