LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY: Definition, Procedure, Benefits

What is laparoscopic surgery?

Laparoscopic surgery is very complicated and quite an advanced surgery. It is used for the removal of the gallbladder, removal of gall stones from bile duct and removal of cancers of the stomach or small benign tumors of the stomach, resection of colon cancers or segments of the colon for diverticulitis or segments of the intestine for inflammatory bowel disease. This surgery is successfully performed among all the best cancer hospital in Mumbai.

Your doctor has recommended a laparoscopic surgical procedure either to aid in the diagnosis or to treat a medical problem in your abdomen, the area between your chest and groin. But what does a laparoscopy actually mean? A laparoscopy is a narrow tube that contains a light source and a small video camera. 

Using a laparoscope, the surgeon is able to operate by making one or more very small incisions, through which the sterile laparoscope and possibly other instruments are inserted into the body. Using the laparoscope video camera, the surgeon is able to explore and inspect the interior of the abdomen often allowing the surgeon to see with greater detail and with more clarity than with the human eye alone.

Non-laparoscopic or traditional surgery means making an incision large enough to allow the surgeon to see the entire operative field as well as to fit his or her hands and instruments into the area of the human body on which the operation is being performed.

Procedure

On the day of your operation, you will be asked to put on a surgical gown. You may receive a sedative by mouth and an intravenous line may be put in. You will then be transferred to the operating table. Your doctor will scrub thoroughly and will apply an antiseptic solution to the skin around the area where the incision will be made and a sterile drape will be placed around the operative site.

The anesthesiologist will begin to administer anesthesia. Most probably general anesthesia or in the case of a spinal, the anesthetic will be injected into the small of your back. After allowing a few minutes for the anesthetic to take effect a small incision is made above the umbilicus. Then a hollow needle will be inserted through the abdominal wall and the abdomen will be inflated with carbon dioxide. An umbilical port is created for the laparoscope. One or more incisions will be made with care taken to keep the openings as small as possible.

During the procedure, the surgeon will use the laparoscope to find and identify the areas in your body of interest as well as to guide any other instruments required for the completion of the procedure. Then the instruments are withdrawn and the carbon dioxide is allowed to escape. The muscle layers and other tissues are sewn together and the skin is closed with sutures or staples. Finally, one or more sterile dressings are applied.

Benefits

Laparoscopic surgery benefits the patient because it is almost always less invasive than traditional surgery which means that it reduces post-operative discomfort, causes less scarring and can dramatically speed both recovery and healing. We now know that it’s safer to do it through the laparoscopic approach because the patients can breathe and cough normally after the surgery far earlier than they can with a large incision. They can mobilize and get out of bed and get back to their normal activities far more quickly.