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In order to choose the best doctor for performing your laparoscopy, you need to ask the doctor the following questions.
Ideally, if the doctor finds a problem during the laparoscopy, he should correct it at the same time, rather than call you again for a second surgical procedure, which only adds to your expense and risk.
A common question patients ask is if they can go in for an X-ray (hysterosalpingogram) instead of a laparoscopy to find out if their tubes are open? While it is true that an HSG will provide accurate information about whether or not the tubes are open, there are other major benefits which laparoscopy offers which HSG does not. HSG provides information only about the inside of the tubes and uterine cavity, whereas in laparoscopy, not only can the tubal patency be determined, but other disorders inside the abdomen which affect tubal function and which do not show up on HSG (such as endometriosis and tubal adhesions) can also be diagnosed. Moreover, a major bonus in the case of laparoscopy is that it offers the doctor a chance to diagnose and treat the problem at the same time if possible _ double bonus! Of course, the advantage of HSG is that no surgery, hospitalization or anesthesia is needed: it is less expensive; and that a hard copy record is provided, which all doctors can refer to later on. In fact both the HSG and laparoscopy are complementary procedures, and you may even need both, especially if your tubes are blocked.
A common problem which patients face in practice is that many doctors will insist on repeating the laparoscopy. One reason for this is that doctors feel that they need to do the laparoscopy for themselves, because they cannot "trust" another doctor's judgement. This is, of course, a major problem for patients, who suffer repeated (and unnecessary) laparoscopies. Having a video record should help to minimize this problem. What happens if your laparoscopy was normal and the second doctor wants to repeat it anyway? Sometimes doctors have little to offer in the way of effective treatment and since there is nothing else to do, they suggest a repeat scopy to which the hapless patient is forced to agree. If your first scopy did, in fact, indicate you had a problem, a second look laparoscopy may be indicated (and this should have been discussed with you after the first scopy) to determine if the problem has been successfully resolved. Ask the doctor what information he hopes to get by doing the repeat laparoscopy and how this will change your treatment. If you feel the doctor wants to do a scopy for no very good reason, refuse. It's a surgical procedure after all and it's your body.
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
