CAJ - Laparoscopic or Minimally Invasive Surgeries

In former times, when you underwent surgery, you usually got a souvenir in form of a huge nasty scar. Every scar is a remainder of a incision. The larger the incision the longer the healing process. They are also accompanied by a large amount of pain and a high risk of infections. Therefore, doctors are always looking for a way to keep the incisions as small and their number as low as possible. As a solution, surgeons developed the laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery. It is also known as keyhole surgery due to the small size of the incisions. This type of surgery allows surgeons to perform operations inside the abdomen. Instead of one large incision, several smaller incisions (between 0,5-1,5 cm) are made and plastic tubes are inserted. Through these tubes, surgeons can insert cameras and surgical instruments.

The camera then transmits pictures of the patients inside on a screen for the surgeon and his team to see. Unlike in an open surgery, the surgeon does not see the organ from a top down perspective. The camera rather acts as the surgeons eye allowing him or her to inspect the organ up close and from different perspectives.

However, there is a major limitation the laparascopic surgeries: the surgeon can only work with his or her instruments and can not use his or her hands for help. For instance, the surgeon can not simply push the intestines or organs from the site of surgery as would be the case in an open surgery.
To increase the accessibility of the organ, there have been some improvements to the laparoscopic surgery, namely the advanced laparoscopic surgery with hand-access devices and robot assisted surgery.
In the advanced laparoscopic surgery, a larger incision is made, large enough for a hand to fit through and again a plastic tube is inserted. This allows the surgeon to use his hands and tactile sensation for the surgery.

The robot assisted surgery, as mentioned in the other CAJ posts, turns the surgery into a kind of video game. The surgeons sit in front of a screen with the instruments at their hands. They then performs the surgery as if it were a regular laparoscopic or open surgery with the difference that the patient does not lie right in front of them.
Basically, that is all you need to know about minimally invasive surgery. It is a good way to minimize the risks associated with surgeries and scars and although there are some drawbacks, scientists and medics are working hard to get rid of them.