Laparoscopic Surgery
Laparoscopic surgery, also called minimally invasive surgery, bandaid surgery, or keyhole surgery, is a modern surgical technique in which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions as compared to larger incisions needed in traditional surgical procedures.
During laparoscopic surgery, small incisions of up to half an inch are made and plastic tubes called ports are placed through these incisions. A video camera, called a laparoscope and several thin instruments are then introduced through the ports, which allow access to the inside of the patient.
The camera transmits an image of the organs inside the abdomen onto a television monitor. The surgeon is not able to see directly into the patient without the traditional large incision. The video camera becomes a surgeon's eyes in laparoscopy surgery, since the surgeon uses the image from the video camera positioned inside the patient's body to perform the procedure.