Laparoscopy is a type of surgery used to detect and treat many health problems. Over the past 20 years, laparoscopy has become fairly common. It often can be performed as an out-patient procedure. Most patients recover from laparoscopic surgery within days!
What Is Laparoscopy?
Laparoscopy is a way of doing surgery without making a large incision (cut). A thin, lighted tube—known as the laparoscope—is inserted into the abdomen through a small incision. The laparoscope is a small camera that allows your doctor to see the pelvic organs. If a problem needs to be fixed, other instruments are used. These instruments are inserted either through the laparoscope or through other small cuts in your abdomen. Women’s Health and Surgery physicians also utilize diagnostic laparoscopy to find and diagnose a range of other problems.
Benefits of Laparoscopic Surgery Vs. Traditional Open Surgery?
- Less pain after laparoscopic surgery than with open abdominal surgery. Open abdominal surgeries require longer hospital stays, larger incisions, and a longer recovery period than laparoscopic surgery.
- Faster recovery time
- Less risk of infection
- Less blood loss
- Sometimes done in an outpatient setting, so you won’t have to spend the night in the hospital
- Smaller incisions mean less scarring and faster healing time
Why Is It Done?
There are many uses for laparoscopy. One common use is to find the cause of a health problem, such as chronic pelvic pain (pain that lasts for more than 6 months). Laparoscopy is used for some procedures and to treat some conditions as follows:
- Endometriosis
- Myomectomy for Uterine Fibroids
- Ovarian Cysts
- Ectopic Pregnancy
- Permanent Sterilization Reversal
- Laparoscopic Hysterectomy
- Pelvic Floor Problems
- Enterocele Repair after Hysterectomy