Laparoscopic or “minimally invasive” surgery is a specialized technique for performing surgery. In traditional “open” surgery the surgeon uses a single incision to enter into the abdomen. Laparoscopic surgery uses several 0.5-1cm incisions. Each incision is called a “port.” At each port a tubular instrument known as a trocar is inserted. Specialized instruments and a special camera known as a laparoscope are passed through the trocar during the procedure. This makes the surgery less painful & leads to early recovery.
For cancer surgery of digestive organs such as rectum, colon, intestine, liver, stomach, oesophagus, gynaecology etc. either of the Open or Keyhole approach may be used. The open approach involves an 8 to 10 inch incision to open the abdomen and perform the surgery. The laparoscopic approach creates three to five miniature incisions (each having a length of one rice grain to three rice grains long) instead of the one larger incision.