In the past, surgeons made large incisions in skin and muscle so that they could directly see and work on the area of concern. This is called open surgery.

Today, doctors still perform open surgery, but they can also perform many gynecologic procedures using minimally invasive laparoscopic or robotic-assisted surgery, possibly with da Vinci technology.

Both minimally invasive approaches require one or a few small incisions that doctors use to insert surgical equipment and a camera for viewing. In laparoscopic surgery, doctors use special long-handled tools to perform surgery while viewing magnified images from the laparoscope (camera) on a video screen.