What is Exploratory Surgery?
Exploratory surgery is a surgery which is performed solely for diagnostic purposes, without the intent of treating disease. It can be used to look for things which are not showing up with other diagnostic techniques, such as suspected cancers which cannot be identified in medical imaging studies. It can also be used with patients who are unable to communicate about their symptoms, such as animals. Exploratory surgery on animals is quite common, especially for bowel obstructions.
