Difficulty Conceiving

Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy is an outpatient surgical procedure performed under general anesthesia. Just prior to the procedure, carbon dioxide (CO2) is put into the abdomen through a special needle that is inserted just below the navel. This gas helps to separate the organs inside the abdominal cavity, making it easier for the surgical team to see the reproductive organs during laparoscopy. The gas is removed at the end of the procedure. Next the surgeon inserts a laparosope (a miniature telescope with a fiber optic system which brings light into the abdomen) through a half-inch incision in your belly button. If issues are found, additional incisions (up to three, each a quarter-inch) will be made at your lower abdomen so that other instruments can be introduced to do a sterilization or other surgery. An instrument to move the uterus during surgery will be placed in the vagina. If the surgeon finds endometriosis or ovarian cysts, they will be removed. Be sure to confirm with your doctor that your laparoscopy will be both diagnostic and corrective.

If you did not have a Hysterosalpingogram performed prior to the Laparoscopy, following the removal of any diseased tissue, a blue dye will be injected through the uterus and fallopian tubes to ensure that the fallopian tubes are not blocked, or to tell the surgeon where blockages are if the tubes are closed so that the blockage can be removed.

Most people have a little pain in the navel and a period-like pain for a day or two. This is controlled by simple painkillers. Some pain in the shoulder may occur for a few days after laparoscopy due to irritation of the diaphragm by residual carbon dioxide. If a dye has been used for fertility tests there may be a blue-stained discharge for a short time.