Dr. Madhuri Mankar

All drugs carry within themselves the potential to treat and harm the skin. Side effects of medicines are a common phenomenon, with variation in the intensities. Sometimes they are minor and do not require medications; however at other times they may require urgent attention and treatment.

Some allergies caused due to medications that primarily affect your skin are:

1. Itches and rashes: Sometimes your body may be allergic to certain type of medications. If these drugs are taken by you then the immune system treats them as foreign invasions and triggers a reaction against them. In certain cases, on consuming a drug that your body is allergic to, a kind of white blood cell called T cells expand. Itching, rashes on the skin are common repercussions in such a scenario.
2. Swelling on the face and throat: Often it happens that, on being administered a medicine or an injection, you may experience severe swelling on face and throat. This is an extreme case of medicinal side effect and is commonly known as anaphylaxis. This must be immediately treated and brought to the notice of a trained doctor. 
3. Blisters: This is also an important potential side effect of a drug. On being administered a drug, you may experience an erosion on the surface of lips and eyes as a reaction against it. Immediate treatment and a consult to the doctor is imperative if you experience these symptoms. 
4. Swelling of the tongue: If you have high blood pressure and if you take angiotensin converting enzyme, a swollen tongue and persistent cough are the possible side effects. 
5. Flushing and itching: You may suffer from symptoms of flushing and itching as a possible side effect of the intravenous dyes that are used in the X-rays.

Word ‘Laparoscopy’ is derived from ancient greek language “lapara + skopeo” i.e. “λαπάρα + σκοπέω”.  

Lapara means 'flank, side’ and skopeo means ‘to see'. Hence laparoscopy’s literal meaning is “a procedure / operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis through which the abdominal contents are seen.”

To look inside tummy (abdomen) an instrument is used which is called a ‘laparoscope’. A laparoscope is a thin telescope with an attachment for light. It is used to light up and magnify the structures inside the abdomen. A laparoscope is passed into the abdomen through a small cut (incision) in the skin.

In addition to simply looking inside the abdomen (laparoscopy), surgery can be performed while seeing the abdominal organs with laparoscope. In this combination, the procedure is called as ‘Laparoscopic Surgery’. Generally, 0.5-1 cm incisions are used in laparoscopic surgery. Each incision is called a “port.”  At each port a tubular instrument is inserted known as a trocar. At the beginning of the procedure, the abdomen is inflated with carbon dioxide gas to provide a working and viewing space for the surgeon. The laparoscope has an attachment with a camera and light which transmits images from the abdominal cavity to high-resolution video monitors in the operating room. During the operation, detailed images of the abdominal organs are displayed on the monitor and surgery is performed with using special laparoscopic instruments which are, also, passed into the abdomen through another trocar. This system allows the surgeon to perform the same operations as traditional surgery but with smaller incisions.

Laparoscopic surgery, in other words, is different way of performing surgery in which the surgical steps remain the same as open surgery, but it is performed with special instruments with small abdominal incisions. Now these days laparoscopic surgeries are performed with the use of sophisticated medical grade cameras, telescopes, laparoscopic surgical instruments and refined energy sources.

“Laparoscopic Surgery” is known with various names

• Keyhole surgery
• Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS)
• Minimal Access Surgery (MAS)
• Band-Aid surgery
• Scar less Surgery

In certain situations, a surgeon may choose to use a special type of port that is large enough to insert a hand. When a hand port is used, the surgical technique is called “hand assisted” laparoscopy. The incision required for the hand port is larger than the other laparoscopic incisions, but is usually smaller than the incision required for traditional surgery.