laparoscopy

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

My apologies for missing last week, but my appendix and I had an escalating disagreement, and finally decided it was best for both of us if we parted ways. In honor of which event:


laparoscopy (lap-uh-ROS-kuh-pee) - n., an examination of or surgery within the abdominal cavity using a fiber-optic camera (called a laparoscope).


This can be (and is commonly) done for small operations such as tubal ligation, gall bladder removal, or appendectomy. The advantage is only small incisions, with few infections and quicker recovery, but it requires the surgeon use long-handled instruments (the Wikipedia article has a photos). Interestingly, the name is rather older than fiber optics, dating to the 1850s, when it was coined as a general word for examining the abdomen with instruments, from Greek roots lapara, flank (or possibly also loin) + skopein, to see, examine. FWIW, in the States, I usually hear it pronounced with the second syllable elided away: la-PROS-kuh-pee.

The weirdest part of a laparoscopy is the gas they leave behind in your belly.

---L.