"Endoscopic surgery " is commonly, and aptly ,known as "keyhole surgery". This modern form of surgery involves the surgeon making several tiny incisions in the patient's abdomen into which are inserted a fibreoptic telescope, a light source and instruments on long handles. .Endoscopic surgery is a method used by specially trained surgeons for certain operations in gynaecological surgery , gall bladder and hernia surgery and some other specialised surgery .
Patients prefer the small discrete scars as compared with those from large "open cuts". And although Endoscopic surgery is widely performed it remains controversial in some circles because it is new and not all surgeons are skilled to perform it. Research is continually evaluating the place of this surgery and supporters claim its benefits to the patient are the shorter recovery time because there is no large scar to heal. People who don't support the methods cite cost and length of time under anaesthetic as down sides to it. Complication rates remain a point of contention as well. Proper evaluation of these figures is necessary as complication rates vary with the skill level of the surgeon .
Working through a "keyhole" means the operations may take longer to perform as the surgeon and the assistant are often working remotely from the site of the actual work manipulating instruments for areas they can only visualise through tiny "telescopes" inserted into the abdomen through the little cuts. Because the fibre optics in the "telescopes" also magnify the target this gives the opportunity for very fine work but also means any small move by an assistant in an instrument may well be greatly magnified at the site work. For this reason robotics have been a great advance for endoscopic surgery. One such system is AESOP which stands for Automated Endoscopic System for Optimal Positioning Robot -and its no fable ! This computerised assistant can be programmed to recognise a particular surgeon's voice commands and can keep a light source or instrument perfectly still for long periods (without complaint )or move it to just the right place. (you'd need to worry,however, if it ever says " I wouldn't do that if I were you Dave ....." ! )
This system has been especially useful, according to some surgeons ,in treatment of Endometriosis where they are claiming that the having robots hold light sources perfectly focussed for long perdiods allow them to use fine dissection techniques to delicately snip away at areas of endometriosis rather than burning with laser, in an attempt to minimise scar reaction and adhesions formation.
Advances in the area of robotics and endoscopic surgery are moving lightning speed - keep asking your doctor about new techniques and their evaluation status !
some further reading :
http://www.lapsurgery.com/robotics.htm