SUMMER ■ 19 9 3
Wesley Long
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL,
A Wesley Long
Community
Hospital
newsletter for
women
Fascinating laparoscopic surgery offers many benefits
f five years ago you were
told that you could go to
the hospital in the morning,
have a hysterectomy and be
home in your own comfortable bed the next day, you
probably wouldn't have believed it. But today, it is possible, thanks to a new technique.
"With laparoscopic surgery,
many procedures that formerly
required a five-day hospital stay
are now being done with a one or
two-day stay," says Dean McPhail,
M.D., OB/GYN, Chief of Obstetrics/Gynecology at Wesley Long
Community Hospital.
How does it work?
Laparoscopic surgery is a technique
using several very small incisions
instead of a large one. The laparoscope,
a tube containing a fiberoptic light source
and operating instruments (such as a laser),
is passed through one of the tiny incisions.
The surgeon can see the area on a television monitor through a camera attached
to the scope.
"Without a large incision, the recovery
time and postoperative discomfort are
tremendously decreased," says Dr. McPhail.
Both diagnostic and therapeutic uses
For many years, the laparoscope was used
simply as a diagnostic tool to visualize the
inside of the abdomen and determine
1
if major surgery was needed. While
laparoscopy is still used to help establish
a diagnosis, treatment is now often performed at the same time.
"For example, tubal pregnancies are often
diagnosed and then removed through the
laparoscope," says Tina Clayton, RN, Specialty Coordinator of Gynecology at Wesley Long. Other conditions that can be
treated laparoscopically include:
T ovarian cysts,
▼ endometriosis,
▼ infertility due to
blocked fallopian
tubes or fibroids
(benign
Gynecological tumors of
surgery using a laparoscope the uterus),
greatly decreases
postoperative discomfort ' pelvic
and recovery time. adhesions,
and
T hysterectomies, where the
laparoscope can assist in removing
the uterus or the ovaries through
the vagina or through the
laparoscope itself.
Talk with your physician
Laparoscopy is not suitable for
everyone or for every condition, notes Dr.
McPhail. "This is new technology that is
an alternative to conventional surgery,"
he says. "Two important considerations in
having laparoscopic surgery are medical
Continued on page four
SUMMER ■ 19 9 3
Wesley Long
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL,
A Wesley Long
Community
Hospital
newsletter for
women
Fascinating laparoscopic surgery offers many benefits
f five years ago you were
told that you could go to
the hospital in the morning,
have a hysterectomy and be
home in your own comfortable bed the next day, you
probably wouldn't have believed it. But today, it is possible, thanks to a new technique.
"With laparoscopic surgery,
many procedures that formerly
required a five-day hospital stay
are now being done with a one or
two-day stay," says Dean McPhail,
M.D., OB/GYN, Chief of Obstetrics/Gynecology at Wesley Long
Community Hospital.
How does it work?
Laparoscopic surgery is a technique
using several very small incisions
instead of a large one. The laparoscope,
a tube containing a fiberoptic light source
and operating instruments (such as a laser),
is passed through one of the tiny incisions.
The surgeon can see the area on a television monitor through a camera attached
to the scope.
"Without a large incision, the recovery
time and postoperative discomfort are
tremendously decreased," says Dr. McPhail.
Both diagnostic and therapeutic uses
For many years, the laparoscope was used
simply as a diagnostic tool to visualize the
inside of the abdomen and determine
1
if major surgery was needed. While
laparoscopy is still used to help establish
a diagnosis, treatment is now often performed at the same time.
"For example, tubal pregnancies are often
diagnosed and then removed through the
laparoscope," says Tina Clayton, RN, Specialty Coordinator of Gynecology at Wesley Long. Other conditions that can be
treated laparoscopically include:
T ovarian cysts,
▼ endometriosis,
▼ infertility due to
blocked fallopian
tubes or fibroids
(benign
Gynecological tumors of
surgery using a laparoscope the uterus),
greatly decreases
postoperative discomfort ' pelvic
and recovery time. adhesions,
and
T hysterectomies, where the
laparoscope can assist in removing
the uterus or the ovaries through
the vagina or through the
laparoscope itself.
Talk with your physician
Laparoscopy is not suitable for
everyone or for every condition, notes Dr.
McPhail. "This is new technology that is
an alternative to conventional surgery,"
he says. "Two important considerations in
having laparoscopic surgery are medical
Continued on page four
