Ian Beckingham

My major Surgical interest is Laparosocpic (“Keyhole”) Surgery. This allows standard procedures to be done through small scars using delicate instruments and tiny cameras within the abdomen. This means less damage to the abdominal wall muscles, less pain and a reduced need for strong morphine based pain killers (and a reduction in all the side-effects they can produce). This permits a faster recovery and return to exercise and work. Most patients are able to return to driving at 1-2 weeks after keyhole surgery. 

Unfortunately there are still a lot of patients who are not offered laparosocpic procedures and endure the discomfort of an open operation. Hernia surgery is a classic case – when I have performed a laparosocpic repair on a patient who has had a recurrence of his previous open hernia repair they can’t believe the difference in comfort and recovery rates compared with the first time open operation. Sadly only 10% of hernias are performed laparosocpically in the UK compared with rates of >70% in parts of Europe.