Because surgery is an invasive and often risky intervention, it is typically only used when other methods such as external observation and testing body fluids have failed.
As late as the early 1970s, when a patient presented to a hospital and reported severe pain for which there was no cause readily detectable from external observation or tests of body fluids, exploratory surgery was often the only way to make a definitive diagnosis while the patient was alive.
[2] In a high percentage of cases, exploratory surgery was unable to provide a definitive answer, meaning the patient had endured great suffering for no net benefit.
[2] Many kinds of exploratory surgeries can now be performed using endoscopy which uses a camera and minimal incisions instead of more invasive techniques.
A laparotomy can be used to diagnose cancer, endometriosis, gallstones, gastrointestinal perforation, appendicitis, diverticulitis, liver abscess, ectopic pregnancy, and other conditions involving abdominal organs.