Laparoscopy

Before your laparoscopy

Be sure your doctor knows about any medicines you are taking, including vitamins, herbs, and supplements, as well as if you have allergies to any medicines.

You might be asked to stop taking blood-thinning medicines, including aspirin, for several days before the test to reduce your risk of bleeding. Your doctor might also ask you to adjust or stop other medicines as well, such as those for diabetes. If you normally take prescription medicines in the morning, talk with your doctor or nurse about how to manage them on the day of your test.

You will likely be asked not to eat or drink anything for at least several hours before the procedure. Your doctor or nurse will give you specific instructions. Be sure to follow them, and to ask questions if you don’t understand something.

Making a transportation plan

Because a sedative is used to help keep you more comfortable during the procedure, you will need to arrange for a ride home after the test.

You might be sleepy or dizzy and need someone to help you get safely into your home, so a cab or rideshare service might not be a good option. Some centers will not allow you to use a cab or rideshare after this procedure.

If transportation or help getting home might be a problem, talk with your health care provider. There might be other resources available, depending on the situation.

During your laparoscopy

Laparoscopy is done as either an:

• Outpatient procedure, where you don’t need to stay overnight in a hospital
• Inpatient procedure, where you do need to stay in the hospital overnight or a few days

Most often, laparoscopy is done under general anesthesia, where you are in a deep sleep and will feel no pain.

For some simpler diagnostic procedures, the area might be numbed (local anesthesia) and you might be given a sedative, a medicine given through an intravenous (IV) line to help you relax and reduce pain, without putting you fully to sleep.

Your doctor will review the procedure with you and ask you to sign a consent form. For this test, you’ll change into a hospital gown and lie on your side on a table. Your blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing will be monitored.

Depending on the procedure, you will be under local anesthesia or general anesthesia. If you are receiving general anesthesia, a breathing tube will be placed through your mouth or nose, into your trachea (windpipe), and connected to a machine.

A small cut is made to insert the laparoscope, and gas is used to gently expand the belly so the organs can be seen. Other small cuts might be made for tools needed to remove or take samples of abnormal areas.

When the procedure is finished, the laparoscope, tools, and most of the gas will be removed, the cuts closed, and you are woken up from anesthesia. If you had a breathing tube placed, it will be removed.

Procedures done for diagnosis can take between 30 to 90 minutes, but laparoscopy done for other reasons, including removal of tumors, can take longer.

After your laparoscopy

After the procedure, you will be watched closely for any problems. As the anesthesia wears off, you might be groggy or confused for a few hours.

If you had the procedure as an outpatient, you should be able to go home after a few hours. If you were given a sedative, someone will need to drive you home and stay with you until it wears off. Your doctor or nurse should give you specific instructions on what you can and can’t do in the hours after the test.

If you had the procedure done as an inpatient, you will most likely stay in the hospital for a day or so. Your mouth and throat will probably be numb for a few hours. You won’t be allowed to eat or drink until the numbness wears off. Once the numbness is gone, you might have a sore throat, cough, or hoarseness for the next day or so.

You might have pain or numbness in the sites where the cuts were made. And there might be glue or stitches in place that were used to close the cut. You might also have abdominal or shoulder pain from the leftover gas. It might take a few hours or days to get better.

If biopsies were taken, test results are usually ready within a few days, although some might take longer. You will need to follow up with your doctor after the procedure to get your results.

Possible risks of laparoscopy

Laparoscopy is usually safe, but there is a small risk of certain complications.

Bleeding: If a biopsy was done, a small amount of bleeding could happen where the doctor removed tissue samples.

Needing to have an open or traditional laparotomy: This is where the belly or pelvis is opened with a larger cut. It might be done because the procedure could not be done with the smaller cuts used by laparoscopy.

Injury to nearby organs, nerves, and blood vessels: Sometimes, damage to the surrounding tissues and organs, especially the bowel and bladder, can happen during the procedure. Depending on the site where it occurred, this can result in pain, swelling, bleeding, and, rarely, a tear in the bowel or bladder (perforation).

Infection: In rare cases, the cuts can get infected or you could get a lung infection (pneumonia).

Blood clots: These can occur from long periods of immobility and increased pressure in the belly during the procedure.

Gas embolism: This is rare, but can occur when the gas used to inflate the belly accidentally enters a blood vessel.

Drug reactions: Sometimes the drugs used to help you relax and stay comfortable during the test can cause changes in blood pressure, confusion, dizziness, trouble breathing on your own, or even an allergic reaction. You will be watched closely for any medicine side effects, and they will be treated if needed.

Before you go home, your doctor or nurse should give you specific instructions on when you might need to call the doctor’s office about problems. In general, these include:

• Bleeding
• Fever or chills
• Severe belly or pelvic pain
• Redness, swelling, pain, or drainage along the cuts
• Vomiting
• Inability to pee
• Swelling in your belly or legs

Call 911 or go to the emergency room if you have: 

• Chest pain or pressure that is increasing
• Trouble breathing (new)
• Coughing up large amounts of blood

Be sure you understand what you should watch out for, the possible timing of when problems might occur, and when you should call about problems.