Laparoscopy in Gynecological conditions

What is a Gynecological laparoscopic Surgery?

A gynecological laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) is a procedure to look inside your lower abdomen to examine your womb (uterus), fallopian tubes and ovaries. Gynecological laparoscopy can be used to diagnose a condition and/or to treat it.

What are the common gynecological conditions where Laparoscopic surgery is performed?

Gynecological laparoscopy is used to find out what’s causing certain symptoms you may have, as well as to treat several different conditions. These include:

• diagnosing and treating – Endometriosis this is where cells like those that line your womb are found in other parts of your body causing dysmenorrhea , pelvic pain and many other symptoms .
• Removing an ovarian cyst
• Removing your womb – Hysterectomy or ovaries (oophorectomy)
• Treating Uterine – Fibroids
• Surgery for correcting – Pelvic organ prolapses like Uterine, bladder or rectal prolapse.
• Removing scar tissue (adhesions) – scars can develop after infections such as pelvic inflammatory disease or because of endometriosis which can cause pelvic pain and maybe a cause for infertility.
• Fertility enhancing surgeries by treating uterine and tubal conditions.
• Treating an ectopic pregnancy – this is where a fertilised egg starts to develop outside your womb, it can be a tubal ectopic pregnancy, Cesarean scar ectopic, Cervical ectopic.
• Investigating whether you may have cancer or whether cancer has spread
• Performing a sterilisation, which means closing your fallopian tubes so that you can no longer get pregnant.

Why is it important to choose a trained Gynecological laparoscopic surgeon?

The majority of gynecologists nowadays are trained in basic gynecological laparoscopic procedures as a part of their Obgyn training. But only a few get specialized training in minimally invasive gynecological surgery.

It is important to know whether your Gynecological surgeon is having adequate training and extensive experience in laparoscopic surgery especially if you are undergoing surgeries for endometriosis, fibroid or any fertility enhancing surgeries. These surgeries should only be done by a Gynecological surgeon who is performing level 4 and above surgeries at a regular basis. The success of the surgery depends on the expertise of the surgeon in laparoscopy. A regular Ob-Gyn doing general obstetrics and gynecology are mostly not experienced in doing complex cases in a minimally invasive way.

As a patient, it is your responsibility to find the best laparoscopic surgeon in your city, in case you are planning to undergo any gynecological surgery. Surgeons’ expertise matters a lot in the success and outcome of the surgery.