An examination of the peritoneal cavity by inflating the abdomen with sterile air and passing an endoscope through the abdominal wall.
A method of viewing the interior of the abdomen in patients in whom a tumour or some other condition requiring operation may be present but cannot with certainty be diagnosed. The examination is carried out by making a minute opening in the abdominal wall under local anaesthesia, and inserting an endoscope — a long flexible instrument bearing an electric lamp and telescopic lenses like that for examining the bladder (cystoscope) — into the abdominal cavity. Certain of the abdominal organs can then be directly inspected.