What is Laparoscopic Surgery?

Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive surgery that is performed through multiple small incisions (1/4" to 1/2" long) using specially designed surgical instruments and a laparoscope, a miniaturized surgical telescope that carries its own light source. The laparoscope usually contains a camera that sends a picture of the surgical field to a nearby video screen so that the surgeon can view the operative field more easily.

What are the Advantages of Laparoscopic Surgery?

The main benefits of laparoscopic surgery are the shorter operative time, reduced risk of complications during and after the procedure, less post-operative pain, better post-operative lung function, and less discomfort when breathing. Laparoscopic surgery is also associated with a shorter hospital stay, faster healing time, avoidance of complications commonly seen in open surgery weight loss procedures such as difficulty getting the wound to heal and hernia formation in the area of the incision. The tiny incisions made during laparoscopic surgery leave much smaller scars than those left by typical open procedure incisions, which can run 6 to 8 inches in length or more.

What is Open Surgery?

Open surgery refers to traditional surgical procedures in which a surgeon uses traditional surgical instruments to make a single large incision in the abdominal wall. For women undergoing weight loss surgery, the typical open incision is 4 1/2 to 6 inches. For men, the incision is usually 5 1/2 to 7 inches in length.

Open vs. Laparoscopic Surgery

The terms open and laparoscopic refer to how the abdominal cavity is entered during surgery. They do not describe the type of weight loss surgery procedure that is performed. Both the gastric banding and bypass procedures can be performed laparoscopically or using the traditional open method. Once inside the abdomen, the surgeon uses the same techniques in both open and laparoscopic procedures. Patients who undergo laparoscopic and open weight loss surgeries experience similar weight loss results.