TREATMENT - Laparoscopy

What is Laparoscopic Surgery?

Also commonly known as "telescopic surgery" or "minimally invasive surgery".

In the early 1900’s, surgeons started viewing the insides of the abdominal cavity with telescopes, but the surgeon needed to hold the telescope and peer down it with his eye to the eyepiece. This meant he was unable to operate as his hands were tied up!

With the advent of microchip technology, and fibreoptics, modern telescopes (called laparoscopes) allow a 1cm camera, and even smaller, to be introduced into the abdominal cavity. The view is transmitted to a TV screen, so everyone can see, and the surgeon has free hands. This allows skinny instruments to be passed through tiny nicks into the abdominal cavity, and the surgeon is thus able to operate from the outside by viewing the TV image.

Tissue and even organs can be removed through these tiny incisions, or very small incisions if the organ is larger.

What is a Laparoscopic Surgeon?

Any surgeon in NZ can call themselves a laparoscopic surgeon. There is no special postgraduate training or experience required by any statutory body.

Advantages:
Minimal incisions minimize pain!
Very quick recovery
Better cosmetic result.
Fewer complications
Less blood loss

Disadvantages:
Can be technically very demanding
Loss of tactile sensation.
2 dimensional image, thus loss of depth perception.
Inexperience can prolong the operation, and thus the complication rate.

Sometimes it is inadvisable to continue an operation with the laparoscopic technique, for a variety of reasons, (usually safety). An experienced laparoscopic surgeon will not hesitate to convert such a case to an open (conventional) procedure under that same anaesthetic.

Laparoscopic procedures performed by Keyhole surgery centre:

Gallbladder surgery (Cholecystectomy)
Antireflux surgery
Hiatus hernia repairs
Groin and incisional hernias
Appendisectomies
Bowel resections
Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery (TEM)
Adrenal tumours
Freeing of adhesions
Diagnostic laparoscopies.
Spleen removal