Laparoscopy - When laparoscopy is used

Laparoscopy is used to diagnose or treat numerous conditions.

During the procedure, small surgical instruments and devices are inserted through small incisions. This helps your surgeon perform whatever surgical procedure needs to be carried out.

Diagnosing conditions

It's often possible to diagnose a condition using non-invasive methods, such as an ultrasound scan, a computerised tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Sometimes, however, the only way to confirm a diagnosis is to directly study the affected part of the body using a laparoscope.

Laparoscopies are now widely used to diagnose many different conditions and investigate certain symptoms. For example, they may be used for:

pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) – a bacterial infection of the female upper genital tract, including the womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries
endometriosis – where small pieces of the womb lining (the endometrium) are found outside the womb
ectopic pregnancy – a pregnancy that develops outside the womb
ovarian cyst – a fluid-filled sac that develops on a woman’s ovary
fibroids – non-cancerous tumours that grow in or around the womb (uterus)
female infertility
undescended testicles – a common childhood condition where a boy is born without one or both testicles in their scrotum
appendicitis – a painful swelling of the appendix (a small pouch connected to the large intestine)
unexplained pelvic or abdominal pain

Laparoscopy can also be used to diagnose certain types of cancers. In such cases, the laparoscope is used to obtain a sample of suspected cancerous tissue, so that it can be sent to a laboratory for testing. This is known as a biopsy.

Cancers that can be diagnosed using laparoscopy include:

Treating conditions

Laparoscopic surgery can be used to treat a number of different conditions, including:

the removal of an inflamed appendix in cases of appendicitis where there is a high risk of the appendix bursting
removing the gallbladder, which is often used to treat gallstones
removing a section of the intestine, which is often used to treat digestive conditions (such as Crohn’s disease or diverticulitis) that do not respond to medication
repairing hernias, such as those found in the groin
repairing burst or bleeding stomach ulcers
performing weight loss surgery
removing some or all of an organ that has been affected by cancer, such as the ovaries, prostate, liver, colon, kidney or bladder
treating ectopic pregnancy (it's usually necessary to remove the embryo to prevent damage to the fallopian tubes)
removing fibroids
removing the womb (hysterectomy), which is sometimes used to treat pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis, heavy periods or painful periods