Laparoscopic Surgery

Laparoscopic surgery, also called minimally invasive or keyhole surgery, is performed through a small number of narrow incisions rather than the single large opening of traditional open surgery, using a laparoscope, a thin tube carrying a camera and light source, together with long, slender instruments passed through separate ports. German gynecologist Kurt Semm performed the first laparoscopic appendectomy in 1980, and French surgeon Philippe Mouret performed the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy, removal of the gallbladder, in 1987, a milestone that launched the technique's rapid spread into general surgery over the following decade. Because it avoids a large incision, laparoscopic surgery generally causes less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery than the equivalent open procedure, and it is now the standard approach for gallbladder removal, appendectomy, many hernia repairs and a growing range of gynecologic and colorectal operations.