What is Laparoscopy
- Laparoscopy is commonly called ‘keyhole surgery’. It is a procedure in which a surgical telescope and video camera is passed through a small cut ‘keyhole’ in the abdomen, usually in the umbilicus (belly button). The cut is usually about a centimetre long or smaller
- Laparoscopy is carried out under a general anaesthetic so you will be asleep before any incisions are made.
- Carbon dioxide gas is used to gently inflate your abdomen during laparoscopy to enable your gynaecologist to see your pelvic organs. This allows your gynaecologist to look at, and operate on, the organs of the pelvis and abdomen. Instruments can be passed through one or more other small cuts in the wall of the abdomen. The cuts are usually about half a centimetre long, so the surgeon can perform operations without the need for a large cut.
- After the surgery is finished the gas is let out and the instruments and tubes are removed. The cuts are closed, and dressings are applied.
- Laparoscopy and keyhole surgical techniques give patients several important advantages:
- more rapid recovery
- reduced pain
- smaller scars
- decreased adhesion formation