The medical world is a place full of constant change and evolution. One area of medicine that has changed a lot over the last ten years is surgery. Instead of traditional open surgery, surgeons can now use a method called laparoscopic surgery. As defined, laparoscopic surgery is an “operative procedure performed using minimally invasive surgical technique for exposure that avoids traditional incision. Visualization is achieved using a fibre optic instrument, usually attached to a video camera” (Medical-Dictionary.com). Laparoscopic surgery is remarkable from how it works to the many different procedures that can be performed through laparoscopic surgery, and how much less trauma it causes the body than open surgery.
Laparoscopic surgery is also known as minimally invasive surgery. Surgeons use the laparoscopic method to perform surgeries of the abdomen. According to the world Laparoscopy Hospital, laparoscopic surgery is different from traditional open surgery in that instead of a five to seven inch incision that takes around six weeks to heal, it uses several small incisions about one half to one centimeter long that only take a few of weeks to heal. The length of the incisions depends on the type of surgery being performed. Each of the small incisions is called a port. The surgeon inserts a small tubular instrument called a trochar cannulla into each port. That instrument is what allows the surgeon to insert the laparoscope and other surgical instruments into the patient’s body. To perform the surgery using the laparoscopic method the surgeon has to inflate the patient’s abdomen with carbon dioxide gas. Doing this provides space to see and perform the surgery. When the laparoscope is inserted into one of the ports, it displays images of the inside of the abdomen onto specialized video monitors. The surgeon watches those video monitors to perform the surgery (“Advantages of Laparoscopic Surgery,” par. 1). In the article from the World Laparoscopy Hospital it states, “In the past, this surgical technique was commonly used only for gynaecologic surgery, for diagnostic laparoscopy in cases of infertility and for gall bladder surgery” (“Advantages of Laparoscopic Surgery,” par. 1). Now there is a wide range of surgical procedures that can be performed with the laparoscopic method.
One of the most common surgeries performed using laparoscopic method is cholecystectomy, or removal of the gall bladder. The gall bladder is a small organ that is in the upper right hand side of the abdomen. Its function is to aid in digestion. Gall bladder problems are very common. The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, or SAGES states that “gallbladder problems are usually caused by the presence of gallstones: small hard masses consisting primarily of cholesterol and bile salts that form in the gallbladder or in the bile duct” (Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, par. 2). Not all gallbladder problems are caused...
