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A laparoscopy is an examination of the inside of the abdomen (the pelvis or belly) using a fibre-optic light, and a telescope attached to a microchip camera, which are passed through a thin rigid tube (a laparoscope). The surgeon can see what is inside the abdomen by looking at the camera’s pictures, shown on a video monitor. Some laparoscopes have tubes through which fine operating instruments can be passed.
You will need a general anaesthetic.
The Royal College of Anaesthetists have a series of leaflets all about anaesthetics.
One or two small cuts (less than 1 centimetre long) are made in the skin and muscle of the abdomen. A hollow tube is passed through one, and carbon dioxide gas is injected to stretch the abdomen and separate the wall of the abdomen from the organs inside.
Laparoscopes are also used in surgery. To do laparoscopic surgery, several other laparoscopy tubes are passed into the abdomen and specially designed, long thin tools are passed through the tubes. Surgeons who do this sort of surgery have training to learn the techniques needed.
