Laparoscopic Ovarian Biopsy - I'm terrified!!!!

[gireedy]

I don't know if this is the correct forum to post this question, but I'll shoot....I've been trying to conceive and my OBY/GYN thinks that I could have PCOS.  We did an ultrasound and now he wants to do a laparoscopic ovarian biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.  Has anyone had this done?  What is the procedure like?  Are you completely out or do they just do a local anasthetic?  I have looked all over the internet and can't find any information on the actual procedure and what to expect.  I will ask my doctor in a few days, but I can't wait that long!!!  If anyone has any info, it would be appreciated.  I'd like to get an ounce of sleep tonight!!!

[Sandymac]

First of all.... don't panic!! I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that a laparoscopic biopsy would be the same as a laparoscope in that they do 3 small incisions (yes, you are out like a light)... Ireneo is right about the CO2.. Some folks have some discomfort later if some of the gas is still in there.. I didn't. They go through the little incisions and I would imagine in your case, they would take a small bit of tissue for biopsy purposes. In my case, they were removing the ovary that had the small cyst on it.. In my case, it was on an outpatient basis. They said they might keep me , but usually you are released within a few hours.

I didn't have much pain at all.. The pain pills they gave me gave me such a horrible headache that the next day I just went to X strength tylenol.. I was told not to drive or lift anything for 2 weeks.. It's hard to reach up or bend down for awhile so get ahold of one of those little grabby things on a pole from Walmart.. I had my stitches out in 1 week but felt fine.. By the way.. I'm 69 so younger folks probably bounce back even quicker.. Although they do say that the "Interior" heals slower.

Try not to worry and by the way.. there is a separate PCOS forum, but you are certainly welcome here as well.

Let us know and good luck,
Sandy

[ireneo]

I don't know about ovarian biopsies, sorry. But I've had 2 laparoscopies done (one just for looking around, the other to remove an ovary and tube). In both cases they used a general anesthesia. Even though the incisions are fairly small, they do have to fill the abdomen with CO2 to expand the area and then push intestines aside a bit and I think that would hurt without the anesthesia. My incisions are about 1" long each. The recovery wasn't too bad. I was back to work in a week. For a biopsy it would probably be less.