Comparing Laparoscopy to Laparotomy...

From: Helen Dynda (olddad66@runestone.net)
Thu Mar 29 13:05:06 2001


Comparing Laparoscopy to Laparotomy... 1.) " Although many clinicians assume that laparoscopic surgery will reduce post-operative adhesion formation, the data is not compelling. However, de novo (new) adhesion formation was substantially reduced by laparoscopic surgery."

http://www.centerforendo.com/news/adhesions/adhesions.htm

~ ~ ~ ~

2.) " In thousands of patients, in hundreds of studies, in dozens of different operations Laparoscopic / Minimally Invasive Surgery again and again has been shown to have less pain, shorter hospital stay and more rapid return to work with as good or better outcomes."

More information about the comparison of these surgical procedures is at the following website:

http://clos.net/lap_vs_open.htm

~ ~ ~ ~

3.) " In theory ( although not proven in the existing literature ) laparoscopy has an advantage over laparotomy in terms of adhesion formation. With laparoscopy, small abdominal incisions are made and ports maintain access while occluding the holes when no instruments are actively being used. When compared to laparotomy, this should result in less infection (since the sites are not open for the duration of the case), less tissue drying (especially for longer duration cases when drying can be tremendous for open laparotomies), and less tissue trauma secondary to rubbing or moving intraabdominal structures with surgical gloves. Additionally, the laparoscope is able to be placed immediately adjacent to the operative site to enhance visualization of structures that are buried in the pelvis and the laparoscope can magnify tissues slightly. The magnification achieved with the laparoscope is proportional to the distance of the lens from the tissue viewed, such that at a distance of 1 cm from tissue the laparoscope typically magnifies the tissue about 6 fold, at 2 cm about 4 fold, at 3 cm about 2 fold, at 4 cm there is no magnification and at distances greater than 4 cm there is a reduction in size of the viewed tissue."

http://www.drdaiter.com/hyst_ecto/hyst3.html

~ ~ ~ ~

4.) Should I insist on the laparoscopic approach to my surgery?

You should never insist that your gynecologist perform any procedure with laparoscopic techniques. If a gynecologist is not comfortable performing a laparoscopic procedure, it can be dangerous "pushing" them to proceed laparoscopically. If the surgeon doesn't mention laparosocopy or says it cannot or should not be done, simply seek another opinion.

http://www.womenssurgerygroup.com/conditions/Endometriosis/faqs.asp#five

~ ~ ~ ~

5.) Definitions: Laparoscopic Surgery

http://www.womenssurgerygroup.com/treatments/laparoscopic.asp

~ ~ ~ ~

6.) Definitions: Laparotomy

http://www.womenssurgerygroup.com/treatments/laparotomy.asp

~ ~ ~ ~

7.) View images comparing laparoscopy to laparotomy

http://www.womenssurgerygroup.com/treatments/comparelaparo.asp

~ ~ ~ ~


Enter keywords:
Returns per screen: Require all keywords: