Disadvantages of Laparoscopy

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After a laparoscopy, you may have some minor bleeding or bruising around the cuts in the skin of your abdomen. More serious problems are rare, but may include:

accidental damage to the intestines or certain blood vessels. This needs emergency treatment to correct it;
as with any operation, there is a small risk of complications of anaesthesia, such as an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic or slow recovery time;
occasionally, the incision becomes infected and may need a course of antibiotics;
very rarely, small nerves in the pelvis can be injured, which may reduce feeling in the sexual organs.

If surgery is carried out with the laparoscopy, the risk of complications may increase, depending on what operation is performed. For example, removing an ectopic pregnancy that has caused a fallopian tube to split requires emergency abdominal surgery and sometimes a blood transfusion.

Occasionally the surgeon may need to convert the operation to an open laparotomy, which involves making a larger incision in the abdomen. This can happen if the operation canâ€™t be carried out properly or safely using the laparoscope, and the surgeon needs a better view and more direct access to the organs. It happens in about 3-5% of operations.