Keyhole Surgery Procedures

Keyhole surgery is another name applied to laparoscopic surgical procedures, which cause less tissue damage and enhance healing and recovery time. Large incisions and muscle damage that impact recovery are lessened. A variety of procedures may be performed with keyhole surgical techniques, common in the treatment of abdominal organs such as the kidneys, prostate and colon.

Laparoscopy

• Performing surgery through small incisions (often not larger than 13 to 15 centimeters), surgeons are able to view the entire operating area through a small camera attached to the end of the laparoscope. This camera illuminates and displays the surgical field onto a monitor, much like a television or computer screen, in the operating room or theater, allowing the surgeon to perform precise, minimally invasive movements and techniques.

Benefits

• Experiencing long-term pain and recovery through traditional surgical techniques has caused many patients a delay in the healing and recovery process. However, through keyhole surgical techniques, patients, even those who undergo major operations, may decrease their recovery and out-of-work time by two weeks or more. Keyhole surgery saves doctors from making large incisions in multiple muscle tissue layers, enhancing safety, healing and recuperation.

Options

• Removing a kidney through the laparoscopic or keyhole surgical technique is now a common procedure, one that gives most patients an opportunity to return to work within two weeks. Formerly, major surgery such as kidney removal laid up an individual for a month or more while muscle fibers healed. Some keyhole surgical techniques allow patients to return home the same day as surgery. Bariatric surgical procedures, exploratory surgery and biopsy removal are commonly performed through keyhole techniques these days.