Laparoscopy Overview

The term ‘laparoscopy’ is derived from Greek and is composed of the ancient Greek word ‘λαπάρα’(lapara) which means ‘tummy’, and ‘σκοπώ’(skopo) which means ‘to look’. 

As the term suggests, laparoscopy is a modern type of surgery that allows the surgeon to access or look inside the abdomen(tummy) through tiny incisions in the skin, thus avoiding large incisions as in open surgery.

This type of surgery is also known as Minimally Invasive Surgery or Keyhole Surgery and can be applied to nearly all types of surgical procedures performed in General Surgery, such as:

  • Cholecystectomy
  • Appendectomy
  • Repair of all kinds of abdominal wall hernias (e.g. inguinal, femoral, incisional hernias)
  • Small and large bowel resections (enterectomies, colectomies)
  • Repair of hiatal hernias and treatment of GastroEsophagealRefluxDisease(GERD)
  • Pyloromyotomies in esophageal achalasia
  • Bariatric operations for the treatment of Morbid Obesity