laparoscopy

Laparoscopy describes a group of operations performed with the aid of a camera placed in the abdomen.

The laparoscope was first combined with a video camera in the 1980s, an accomplishment that helped free up the surgeons' hands, so they could better work with their instruments. The laparoscope also allows doctors to perform minor surgery with just a small cut in the abdomen. This technique is known as laparoscopic-assisted surgery.

Initially, laparoscopy was used for procedures such as tubal ligation, a sterilization operation also known as tying the tubes.

The first laparoscopic gallbladder removal was performed in 1985 in France. Soon, the technique was being used to remove the appendix. Today, exploratory laparoscopy is used after abdominal injury, and in cases of abdominal or pelvic illness. Surgeons use laparoscopic-assisted surgery to remove the colon or the kidney during live donor transplants. Weight-reducing procedures such as gastric bypass and vertical banding gastroplasty (VBG) can also be done laparoscopically. Surgeons may start large operations on the liver or pancreas with laparoscopy to check for additional tumors.