Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive, surgical diagnostic procedure used to examine the organs inside the abdomen. It involves low-risk as only small incisions are made for the surgery.
An instrument called a laparoscope is used to look at the abdominal organs. It is a long, thin tube with a high-intensity light and a high-resolution camera at the front. The instrument is inserted through an incision in the abdominal wall. The camera is used to monitor the organ damage and disease in real time and later to perform the surgery with the help of a catheter accordingly.
A laparoscopic surgery may require up to fur incisions which are used to insert additional surgical instruments. After the procedure most of the carbon dioxide is removed from the abdomen along with all the instruments. The incisions are finally closed with stitches and covered with small bandages.
What is laparoscopic cancer surgery?
Laparoscopic procedure can also be used to operate cancer or tumour. A pinhole camera and surgical devices are inserted into the body through small incisions.
The surgeon controls the movement of the surgical instrument while monitoring through the camera making sure that the internal organs do not get affected. The standard laparoscopic instruments are good enough for this niche treatment.
However, for performing the laparoscopic surgery the surgeon has to have specialization in this field. Dr Sandeep Nayak one of the best surgical oncologist in Bangalore, India is a pioneer of Laparoscopic and Robotic Cancer Surgery in India. He has done fellowship in these two niche surgery segments, that’s what makes him the only well-known and the best oncologist in India.
Benefits
- It involves minimum pain.
- Laparoscopic cancer surgery leaves smaller scars.
- You get out of the hospital quicker.
- The healing is quicker as compared to the traditional surgery.
- The internal scarring is lesser.
- The patient can go back to work after the quick healing.
- In laparoscopy the affected area can be assessed virtually with magnified images and hence the precision is more.
Types of laparoscopic surgeries:
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Laparoscopic Gynaecological Surgery
Surgeries involving cervical, endometrial, uterine, and other gynaecological cancers can be treated through laparoscopy if the general conditions are favourable.
A small incision is made in the lower abdomen to reach the affected area with a tiny tube with a light and a camera (i.e., a laparoscope) which are inserted through the incision. It can be navigated and inspected on a TV-like monitor that receives images from the camera, and can visualize tissue, biopsy suspicious regions, or remove tumours with a cutting instrument and tissue retrieval apparatus that is also part of the laparoscope.
Advantage:
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- The surgeries that used to require large open incisions can be treated with just one or a few tiny incisions.
- Less pain and scarring.
- Fast recovery.
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Laparoscopic Kidney Surgery
In the traditional open surgery, kidney surgery required large incisions which take a long time to recovery. By monitoring through the laparoscope, the doctor can visualize tissue, biopsy suspicious regions, remove tumours, and even remove the kidney with a cutting instrument and tissue retrieval apparatus that is also part of the laparoscope.
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Laparoscopic Lymphadenectomy
It is used to detect and treat pelvic cancers which may develop as prostate, testicular, cervical, and(or) uterine cancers. This helps in knowing whether the disease has spread to the lymph nodes in the region and at which stage is the cancer at.
Traditionally, cancer spread in the lymph nodes is treated by biopsy or surgery but laparoscopy is a less invasive process in this case.
