Hello, how are you? Remember that a few weeks ago Dr. Arturo mentioned when a laparoscopy should NOT be performed, but this time I want to explain why we CAN perform a laparoscopy. Remember that knowledge is power.

Well, in the previous video here, we see that Dr. Valdés also tells us when a laparoscopy should not be performed, however we also have very good and appropriate indications for performing a laparoscopy.

What is a laparoscopy? Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure, we use very small wounds and above all a camera with which we can view the internal organs and above all we can also perform the surgery without the need to make a much larger opening, this guarantees us in that sense, many advantages in relation to open surgery.

What are they? Mainly less pain, fewer hospital stays, that is, less time spent in the hospital and also that it improves the patient’s condition in terms of mobility.

In this laparoscopy video we are performing a hysterectomy, that is, removing her uterus. She is a 38-year-old patient, who also has a fibroid of approximately 4 cm. Why did we decide to remove it in this type of patient? Due to the deep bleeding and the fact that it is not very large enough to be able to do it laparoscopically, in this same sense we see that the time of the surgery is very short and above all the benefit of the recovery after the surgery is much greater.

One of the important limitations is obviously surgery when we have much larger tumors that will impair visualization, we would have to opt for traditional surgery, open surgery. In the case of more complex surgeries where we see that either due to the nature of the woman’s disease it is not advisable or previous surgeries, that we have had some other type of procedure on some other occasion, it will also be better to do open surgery due to the complexity of previous surgeries.

At what point do we decide or can we suggest this type of minimally invasive surgery?

• When we have cysts, it is generally a simple procedure; Endometriosis, the removal of certain types of implants helps us and benefits us much more for the disease.
• In the case of fibroids under 4 cm it can benefit us from not having to do open surgery.
• For hysterectomies, that is, completely removing the uterus results in less pain and less hospital stay.
• It is also very important to mention that laparoscopy has advanced and we can also have the benefit of removing an ectopic pregnancy directly with laparoscopy.
• We can also offer this same surgery for an obstructive procedure of the tubes, that is, operating to no longer have babies, which is an advantage over open surgery when the time has really passed since we had our baby and this surgery is still much faster to recover from.
• Now in relation to cysts, what type of cysts can we operate on laparoscopically and what benefit could it have? Simple cysts, which can be of any size except those over 6 cm, which would not be worth it, would be a limitation. Ovarian tumors, generally some type of teratoma, also less than 5 cm, could be removed.

In terms of fibroids, we always have two options: either laparoscopically when we have medium-sized fibroids or small fibroids, and yet when these fibroids are on the outside, that is, subserous, we have the great benefit of removing them by laparoscopy, and when they are on the inside, that is, submucosal, we have the advantage of doing it by hysteroscopy. There are great advantages to doing it by either of these two procedures without having open surgery.

Another important point about laparoscopy is that it helps us to have this surgery to completely remove the uterus from the womb, which is called a hysterectomy… We have received several messages on Facebook in relation to pain, in relation to what other advantages this type of surgery could have, we had commented that the advantages are: Less hospital stay, much less pain and recovery from surgery is greater.

Another fundamental point is in relation to endometriosis, laparoscopic surgery has a great advantage in relation to open surgery since it helps us to improve the condition by eliminating any implants that may be present or even those endometriotic cysts without the need to have open surgery. In the case of endometriosis, it always has a gradual evolution and sometimes it is very painful, in this sense once we have the diagnosis, generally the diagnosis is always very specific and the gold standard is always going to be laparoscopic, that is, direct visualization of the lesions. We can have an idea, however, the complete diagnosis will be done by laparoscopy.

Generally, when this type of process is initial, we have a great advantage with laparoscopy because it helps us to eliminate most of the implants and improve both the pain and the disease. In the case of endometriosis, we must remember that we have two very specific and efficient treatments, which must always be accompanied. Number 1: Medical treatment and number 2: Surgical treatment, because the basis of this type of disease is to eliminate the implantation sites or those that are outside the place where they correspond and we do this by laparoscopy. It is always a great advantage to have the opportunity of both treatments.

We are often asked about recovery time in this regard. In the patients I have operated on, the recurrence or return of the disease is generally minimal, always treated from a surgical perspective, that is, doing laparoscopic surgery and accompanied by hormonal treatment completely favors the decrease. I invite you, if you also live with pain related to endometriosis, to also have an evaluation with us to determine if you really have the disease and even in the appropriate case, if we have to undergo surgery for diagnosis, to do it laparoscopically.

Well, let’s remember that these are the conditions we have to be able to perform laparoscopic surgery. Remember that we can visit us digitally or you can even visit us at the Creafam facilities. A pleasure and have a good day.