Advantages
As the incisions are smaller, there will be less pain after the surgery, and the recovery from surgery will be faster. The amount of blood loss during surgery may be less as well. The small incisions heal very well, and are not as obvious as those of open surgery.
Overview
What is laparoscopic surgery?
Conventional open surgery is performed through a single incision. If the surgery involves a major organ, the incision can be quite large.
Surgical scar from open kidney surgery
Laparoscopic surgery is popularly known as ‘keyhole surgery’. Laparoscopic surgery is performed through a few small incisions, each incision is usually 5 – 10 mm in size. Special devices and instruments are used to carry out the operation. An additional incision may still be required if a major organ such as the kidney needs to be extracted out. Sometimes, the surgery may be performed through a single incision around the belly button (single incision laparoscopic surgery or SILS).
Surgical scars from laparoscopic kidney surgery
Surgical scars from robotic assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy
Surgical scar from single incision laparoscopic surgery