What is a laparoscopy?

A laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure your surgeon does to look for problems in your stomach or pelvic area. They use a tool called a laparoscope, which is a thin, telescopic rod with a video camera on the end. Your surgeon puts the laparoscope through a small cut (incision) in your belly (abdomen) measuring half an inch or less. Surgeons may make up to three more cuts to insert other surgical instruments so they can see all the organs in your belly and find any problems.

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The laparoscope camera projects an image of the inside of your belly or pelvis onto a monitor in real time. Using these images, surgeons can watch their hand motions during the procedure.

Your healthcare provider might recommend a laparoscopy if other diagnostic tests can’t identify the cause of your condition. Healthcare providers also use laparoscopy to collect tissue samples (biopsies) for testing.

What is laparoscopy done for?

Traditional surgeries best suited for laparoscopic surgeries include:

• Cyst, fibroid, stone and polyp removals.
• Small tumor removals.
• Biopsies.
• Tubal ligation and reversal.
• Ectopic pregnancy removal.
• Endometriosis surgery.
• Urethral and vaginal reconstruction surgery.
• Orchiopexy (testicle correction surgery).
• Rectopexy (rectal prolapse repair).
• Hernia repair surgery.
• Esophageal anti-reflux surgery (fundoplication).
• Gastric bypass surgery.
• Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) for gallstones.
• Appendectomy (appendix removal).

Is a laparoscopy a major surgery?

Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure, but that doesn’t always mean it’s a minor surgery. Many abdominal procedures can be done as laparoscopic surgeries, but they’re still major surgeries. Your surgeon is the best person to tell you if your procedure is a major surgery, how to prepare for it and what to expect during recovery.

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What is the difference between laparoscopy and laparoscopic surgery?

Laparoscopic surgery is similar to a laparoscopy. But instead of looking for medical problems, your healthcare provider uses a laparoscope and surgical instruments to operate on your internal organs. People often use the terms interchangeably.

Healthcare providers use laparoscopies for many common surgeries. More complicated conditions may require traditional “open” surgery through a larger incision. But healthcare providers prefer laparoscopic surgery for a growing list of everyday operations because it costs less and improves surgical outcomes.

How should I prepare for a laparoscopy or laparoscopic surgery?

Follow these guidelines before the procedure or surgery:

• Don’t eat, drink (including water) or smoke after midnight the day before your procedure or surgery.
• Wear loose-fitting clothing. You’ll have some abdominal tenderness and cramping.
• Wear low-heeled shoes on the day of surgery. You might be drowsy from the anesthesia and unsteady on your feet.
• Don’t wear any jewelry. (You can wear your wedding ring.)
• Remove any nail polish before the procedure.
• Arrange for someone to drive you home after the surgery.

What happens during a laparoscopy or laparoscopic surgery?

You’ll lay on the operating table slightly tilted with your head lower than your feet. Your anesthesiologist will give you general anesthesia to relax your muscles and prevent you from feeling pain during surgery.

Your surgeon will then make a small cut near your belly button or under your rib cage. They’ll insert a gas tube into this incision to fill your belly with gas. Pumping the area with gas makes your organs easier to see on the monitor.

After removing the gas tube, your surgeon inserts the laparoscope. They may insert surgical instruments through incisions nearby to take tissue samples or perform surgical procedures.

Your surgeon will let the gas out of your body once the procedure is over and close your incisions.

A diagnostic laparoscopy usually takes from 30 minutes to one hour. Laparoscopic surgery can take from one to three hours, depending on how complicated your condition is. If the surgeon can’t safely complete the operation using laparoscopically, they may need to switch to a traditional open procedure with a larger incision.

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What happens right after the procedure?

After surgery, you’ll usually stay in a recovery room for about one hour while providers monitor your vital signs until you wake up.

Will I be in pain when I wake up?

You may have pain after surgery from small amounts of gas left in your body, as well as internal pain from the surgery or around your incisions. It’s also common to have shoulder pain. Your provider will give you pain medication to make you more comfortable.

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Before leaving the hospital, schedule your follow-up appointment so your healthcare provider can check your healing progress.

What should I do when I get home?

After you get home from laparoscopic surgery, you’ll want to take it easy for at least a day or two. You should follow these steps:

• Don’t drink alcohol for at least 24 hours after surgery.
• Keep the incisions clean and dry.
• Follow the instructions on how to bathe that your healthcare provider gives you.
• You can remove the bandage the morning after surgery. Steri-Strips™ — which look like tape — can be removed two to three days after surgery.
• If you have glue on your incisions, leave the glue until it falls off. Pat dry after a shower.
• Don’t worry if your urine (pee) is green. Your surgeon might have used a blue dye to check if your fallopian tubes are open.
• It may take a few days before you can poop as usual.

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How soon can I go back to work?

You can usually return to work three days after surgery, but check with your healthcare provider to be sure. If you need a doctor’s letter excusing you from work, please ask for one at your preoperative appointment.

When can I start exercising again?

Usually, you can start exercising again about a week after laparoscopy. But the type of surgery you have will also make a difference. Check with your healthcare provider to be sure.

When can I start having sex again?

When you can start having sex after laparoscopy depends on the type of laparoscopic procedure you have. It’s always best to check with your healthcare provider first.

What Tools are used in Laparoscopic Surgery?

Laparoscopic surgery uses long-pencil like instruments that fit through small cuts in the abdominal wall instead of large incisions required during open operations.

Laparoscopic instruments are used along with a laparoscope, which is a thin telescope fitted with a cold light source and a video camera. Inert gases like carbon dioxide are used to inflate the abdominal region which increases the distance between the organs and the abdominal wall thus enlarging the operating field. Common instruments used during laparoscopic procedures include a: laparoscope, needle driver for suturing, trocar, bowel grasper and surgical mesh.

Laparoscope

Surgical scopes are one of the oldest instruments used by medical practitioners since ancient times. Modern surgical laparoscopes used for minimally invasive procedures are a far cry from the simple hollow tubes that gradually developed to include lenses for magnified vision. Today, scopes are more like an apparatus with multiple parts that include a CCD camera, viewing device, lens cleaner, and an energy-supply device.

Needle Driver

A needle holder is used by laparoscopic surgeons to hold suturing needles when closing wounds. Forming slip-knots to close wounds and surgical incisions requires precise skills. Suturing can often be tricky to use owing to the property of “memory” which causes tissue to resist deformation. Needle holders have three parts – the jaws, joints, and handles. The instrument is classified as straight or curved depending upon the shape of the jaws.

Trocar

Along with the probe, scalpel, and cannula the trocar is one of the oldest implements used by medical practitioners. A trocar is shaped like a pen and has a sharp triangular point. Trocars are typically placed inside hollow cannulas and introduced inside body cavities to assist in draining fluids. Trocars are now referred to as both the initial entry device as well as the hollow cannula used during the operation. These instruments play an important role in laparoscopic surgery. Instruments such as scissors and graspers are introduced using surgical trocars.

Bowel Grasper

A bowel grasper is used during minimally invasive bowel surgery. The graspers are maneuvered through incisions that are usually no larger than 5 mm. The advantage with using laparoscopic graspers is that they enable the surgeon to grasp and manipulate abdomen tissue with precision without having to cut open the abdomen. The graspers facilitate observation, excision, and biopsy procedures.

Surgical Mesh

Hernia mesh is an implantable device that serves as scaffolding for your natural tissue to grow into and hence reinforce the area. The mesh itself only provides minimal support. It is your own tissue that is ultimately responsible for the repair. There are many different types of surgical mesh that can be used to repair hernias and other defects of the musculoskeletal system.

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