Minimally invasive surgery means that the surgeon is performing the surgery through small cuts, instead of a large cut, as is done in traditional open surgery. The surgeon uses a video camera and special instruments to perform the surgery. 

Minimally invasive surgery can be laparoscopic or robotic . 

Both types of minimally invasive surgeries have to be performed in the operating room. 

You will be asleep under anesthesia throughout the entire surgery. 

It may be outpatient surgery or you may need to be admitted to the hospital after the surgery. Please talk to your surgeon about that. 

Laparoscopic surgery is minimally invasive surgery, where a camera is introduced into the body through a small incision. Instruments are placed into the body through additional small incisions. The images from the camera can be seen on a monitor screen. The surgeon stands next to the patient and operates with these instruments, looking at the operative field on the monitor.

The surgeon places a camera and robotic instruments into the patient’s body and controls these instruments from a nearby console. With the robotic instruments, the surgeon can reach areas of the body that are otherwise hard to reach and has greater dexterity than a human hand.