Exploratory surgery is

surgery Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

whose purpose is to look inside the body to help diagnose an ailment. Because surgery is an invasive and often risky intervention, it is typically only used when other methods such as external observation and testing body fluids have failed. Modern imaging techniques, starting with the invention of

CT scans A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or ...

in 1972, have made it possible to look inside the body without surgery; these less-invasive techniques have significantly replaced exploratory surgery in humans. Exploratory surgery is still used for non-human animals, where tools for imaging are more expensive than exploratory surgery and often less available.

Exploratory surgery in humans

As late as the early 1970s, when a patient presented to a hospital and reported severe pain for which there was no cause readily detectable from external observation or tests of body fluids, exploratory surgery was often the only way to make a definitive diagnosis while the patient was alive. This was highly risky. The patient could irreversibly decompensate from some undetected acute condition before the surgery could be initiated and completed, or the surgery might reveal no significant abnormalities. In a high percentage of cases, exploratory surgery was unable to provide a definitive answer, meaning the patient had endured great suffering for no net benefit. Since the 1970s, exploratory surgery is used to make a diagnosis when typical imaging techniques fail to find an accurate diagnosis. The use of new technologies such as

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...

s have made exploratory surgeries less frequent. For example, GE HealthCare reported in 2009 that in the United States, the number of laparotomies performed annually fell from 85,000 in 1993 to 35,000 in 2006, and the number of thoracotomies performed annually fell from 5,500 to 2,000 in 2006. Many kinds of exploratory surgeries can now be performed using

endoscopy An endoscopy is a procedure used in medicine to look inside the body. The endoscopy procedure uses an endoscope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike many other medical imaging techniques, endoscopes are insert ...

which uses a camera and minimal incisions instead of more invasive techniques. The most common use of exploratory surgery in humans is in the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

, a laparotomy. If a camera is used, it's called a

laparoscopy Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medli ...

. A laparotomy can be used to diagnose

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease in which Tissue (biology), tissue similar to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, grows in other places in the body, outside the uterus. It occurs in women and a limited number of other female mammals. Endomet ...

gallstones A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of ...

gastrointestinal perforation Gastrointestinal perforation, also known as gastrointestinal rupture, is a hole in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. The gastrointestinal tract is composed of hollow digestive organs leading from the mouth to the anus. Symptoms of gastroi ...

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

diverticulitis Diverticulitis, also called colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—Diverticulum, diverticula—that can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lo ...

liver abscess A liver abscess is a mass filled with pus inside the liver. Common causes are abdominal conditions such as appendicitis or diverticulitis due to haematogenous spread through the portal vein. It can also develop as a complication of a liver injury. ...

ectopic pregnancy Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these sympto ...

, and other conditions involving abdominal organs. A

biopsy A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample ...

can be performed during the procedure.

Exploratory surgery in animals

Because animals cannot voice their symptoms as easily as humans, exploratory surgery is more common in animals. Exploratory surgery is done when looking for a foreign body that may be lodged in the animal's body, when looking for cancer, or when looking for various other gastrointestinal problems. It is a fairly routine procedure that is done only after tests and bloodwork reveal nothing abnormal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Exploratory Surgery Surgery Veterinary procedures