Minimal access surgery is performed with one or more small incisions instead of a large incision. The surgeon passes a telescope with a video camera through a small incision into a body. The surgeon then views the surgery on a monitor. Surgical instruments are then passed through other similar little incisions. The surgeon examines and operates on the area in question by viewing magnified images on a television. When the telescope is used to operate on the abdomen, the procedure is called laparoscopy.