A laparoscopy is a medical examination or operation in which the doctor puts a thin tube with a camera into the body through a small cut, so the organs inside can be seen — most often in the belly. Sometimes it is only a look, to find out what is wrong. Sometimes the doctor also operates through those small cuts, to take something out or to fix it. People nickname this keyhole surgery. Patients often go home sooner than after a large open cut, though actually it is still surgery, with real rest and real risk. The adjective is laparoscopic. A scan (like ultrasound) looks from outside; a laparoscopy goes in.

腹腔鏡檢查；腹腔鏡手術