What Is Laparoscopic Surgery?
Laparoscopy is a type of surgery that uses smaller cuts than you might expect.
The process takes its name from the laparoscope, a slender tool that has a tiny video camera and light on the end. When a surgeon inserts it through a small cut and into your body, they can look at a video monitor and see what’s happening inside you. Without those tools, they’d have to make a much larger opening. Thanks to special instruments, your surgeon won’t have to reach into your body, either. That also means less cutting.
Types of Laparoscopes :
There are two types of laparoscope: a telescopic rod lens system, usually connected to a video camera (single-chip or three-chip) a digital laparoscope where a miniature digital video camera is placed at the end of the laparoscope, eliminating the rod lens system.
How It’s Done
- Before this system came along, a surgeon who operated on their patient’s belly had to make a cut that was 6-to-12 inches long.
- That gave them enough room to see what they were doing and reach whatever they had to work on.
In laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon makes several small cuts. - Usually, each one is no more than a half-inch long. (That’s why it’s sometimes called keyhole surgery.) They insert a tube through each opening, and the camera and surgical instruments go through those.
- Then the surgeon does the operation.
