What is laparoscopic surgery?
Laparoscopic surgery is when a surgeon performs the surgery through a tiny hole. Laparoscopic surgery is also known as minimally invasive or keyhole surgery.
How is laparoscopic surgery performed?
• In traditional surgery, doctors would put a big cut on to the tummy to perform the surgery. Sometimes this cut could be transfers type of cut on to the lower tummy or a vertical cut in the midline of the tummy.
• In laparoscopic surgery, doctors would make three to four 0.5-1cm cut onto the tummy. A special tubular instrument called trochars will be placed in these cuts and laparoscopic instruments like camera and others are passed inside to perform the surgery.
What are the advantages of laparoscopic surgery?
Compared to traditional open surgery, patients who undergo laparoscopic surgery
• often experience less pain as the cuts are small
• since less pain, start taking oral feeds early and start walking early and this ultimately leads to a shorter hospital stay and
• less scarring with laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopic surgery benefits are huge when performed by an expert.
What kind of operations can be performed?
Most gynaecological surgeries can be performed using the laparoscopic technique. Common genealogical surgeries performed are for fibroid uterus, adenomyosis, endometriosis, non-cancerous ovarian tumours, hysterectomy could be for the cancerous or non-cancerous condition.
In the past, some concerns were raised about the safety of laparoscopic surgery for cancer operations. Several studies have been conducted and have shown that laparoscopic surgery is safe for uterine cancers and also early ovarian cancers.
Is laparoscopic surgery safe?
Yes, laparoscopic surgeries are generally safe when performed by a very experienced surgeon. If you are planning for laparoscopic surgery ask your surgeon, how many surgeries have they performed, inexperienced surgeon (is who has performed <50 laparoscopic surgeries), experienced surgeon (whose who have performed anywhere between 51-100 surgeries) and very experienced surgeon (who has performed >100 surgeries).
How is the healing time after laparoscopic surgery?
Since laparoscopic surgery is performed with small cuts, healing is much faster as compared to open surgery.
Is laparoscopic surgery painful?
Pain is very less in laparoscopic surgery because surgery is performed using small cuts.
Is laparoscopic surgery safe for uterus removal?
Yes, laparoscopic surgery is safe for uterus removal as long as the uterus is normal in size, generally, we say that babies head is about 10cm and if babies head can come out then uterus of <10cm should easily come out of the vagina after surgery (remember that in laparoscopic surgery the cuts are small so after uterus removal, it has to come out through the vagina.
Can laparoscopic surgery be done for ovarian cyst?
Laparoscopic surgery for ovarian cysts can be done safely. Again the size and type of ovarian cyst matters. Not all types of ovarian cysts can be removed laparoscopically so talk to your doctor.
Role of laparoscopic surgery for removal of uterine fibroids
Laparoscopic surgery for removal of uterine fibroids is known as laparoscopic myomectomy. To remove the fibroids a special technique is used which only an experienced laparoscopic surgeon can perform.
Complications after laparoscopic surgery?
Like any surgery, there is a small chance of developing hernia at the cut site. Very rarely one can develop any life-threatening complications.
What will be the healing time after laparoscopic surgery?
Laparoscopic surgery wound healing time is much quicker than open surgery.
What will be the laparoscopic surgery recovery time?
If a patient doesn’t have any medical co-morbidity most of the time, they get discharged within 24-48 hours and will be able to resume normal activities earlier than open surgeries.
When I go in for laparoscopic surgery what to expect?
Once you get admitted to the hospital, you will be seen by physician/cardiologist and an anesthesiologist. You will be advised not to take anything orally from midnight. The day of surgery the anaesthetist will give you general anaesthesia and put you to sleep. You would have foley’s catheter put into your bladder so that your bladder is empty during surgery. After surgery, you will be shifted to the ward and will be allowed to have water after 6 hours of surgery and a normal diet would be advised from the very next day.
What is the difference between laparoscopic surgery and open surgery?
Open surgery is performed by doing a cut that could be about 10cm and layers of the abdominal wall will be cut to perform the surgery. In laparoscopic surgery, the procedure is performed through a tiny cut of 1cm.
Since the cuts are small and the underlying tissues are not cut, and pain after laparoscopic surgery is less and thus recovery is faster.
Are there any laparoscopic surgery side effects?
Side effects after laparoscopic surgery are much lesser than open surgery.
What would be laparoscopic surgery price?
There could be a slight price difference between open and laparoscopic surgery since you need advanced instrument laparoscopic surgery can be slightly costlier than open surgery.
Are there any laparoscopic surgery gynaecologist in Bangalore?
Yes, there are few gynaecologists who can perform laparoscopic surgery. There are not many surgeons because it needs intensive training to be a good laparoscopic surgeon. Also, it is important to know if your doctor is performing the surgery or your doctor is calling another doctor (ghost surgeon) to perform your surgery. Do not hesitate to ask your doctor as to who will be performing your surgery. Always go to a doctor who herself /himself performs the surgery.