The article tells of laparoscopic surgery as an advancement of the second millennium in the fields of modern surgery. The creation of video surgery with the aid of teaching-microscope is as revolutionary to this century. Today, surgeons can now see and get close to almost every part of the human body, even internal body structures, with the help cameras and video monitors. How do they do this? First, the surgeons make a small cut in the skin of the patient. They then introduce a harmless gas, such as carbon dioxide, into the body cavity to expand it. This creates a large working space for the surgeons to perform the surgery. Through additional small cuts, a rod shaped telescope, attached to a camera, and other long and narrow surgical instruments are placed into the newly formed space with the aid of teaching microscope.

Through this new age technique, under teaching microscope, diseased organs of the human body can be examined with minimal trauma to the patient. Instead of making a large cut into the skin and underlying muscles, surgeons are now able to make small entry. Through a tiny, less traumatic opening, they can perform all the major maneuvers previously done when a large opening was present.

Almost every organ in the human body has become accessible to the surgeons with the new technique in laparoscopy. For instance, gallstones can now be removed with the gallbladder by laparoscopic surgery in over 90 percent of patients. Instead of months of bed rest and limited activities resulting from old method of removing the gallbladder, patients can now usually resume their normal activities in as fast as several weeks. Many other organs too can now also be approached in a similar way. These include structures like the stomach, intestines, pancreas and spleen, kidneys and all the females’ organs. Operations have also been developed recently for diseases of the bladder and the prostate in men.

There are several advantages and disadvantages associated with laparoscopic surgery. The first of its advantage includes less overall trauma to the skin and muscles and less postoperative pain for the patient. This advantage allows patients to get out of bed and resume their daily activities sooner. They are often able then to walk and move around within a few short hours following their operations.

The second advantage is a reduced infection rate in the patient’s wounds. This is because delicate tissues are not exposed to the air during the surgery. In laparoscopic surgery, video magnification offers surgeons better exposure of the diseased organ and its surrounding vessels and nerves with the aid o fteaching-microscope. Because of that, delicate maneuvers can be performed to protect these vital structures during the removal or repair of target organs. This is another advantage.

The disadvantages of laparoscopy on the other hand include the expensive equipment. Not all hospital operating rooms can afford to offer the treatment option because of cost containment. The other major issue associated with laparoscopic surgery is the need for surgeons to take special training in performing the many operations using the laparoscope.

Finally, laparoscopy cannot always be performed on everyone. Some patients with many prior operations may have so much scar tissue within the body that a safe operation cannot be done. Original article