Advantages of Endoscopy:
All surgery carries risks and every incision leaves a scar. However, with endoscopic surgery, your scars are likely to be hidden, much smaller and some of the after effects of surgery may be minimized.
In a typical endoscopic procedure, only a few small incisions, each less than one inch long, are needed to insert the endoscope probe and other instruments. The tiny "eye" of the endoscope's camera allows a surgeon to view the surgical site almost clearly as if the skin were opened from a long incision.
Because the incisions are shorter with endoscopy, the risk of sensory loss from nerve damage is decreased. Also, bleeding, bruising and swelling may be significantly reduced. With the endoscopic approach, you may recover more quickly and return to work earlier than if you had undergone open surgery.
Endoscopic surgery may also allow you to avoid an overnight hospital stay. Many endoscopic procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia with sedation. Be sure to discuss this possibility with your doctor.
In endoscopic surgery, a probe with a tiny camera transmits images inside the body to a video monitor.

Uses in Plastic Surgery:
Cosmetic surgery
Forehead lift or Eyebrow Lift -- Of all the cosmetic procedures that use endoscopy, forehead lift is the one which plastic surgeons more commonly perform. Instead of the usual ear-to-ear incision, three or more "puncture-type" incisions are made just at the hairline. The endoscope helps guide the surgeon, who removes the muscles that produce frown lines, and repositions the eyebrows at a higher level.

Special Consideration and Risks:
It's important to keep in mind that the endoscopic approach has only recently been applied to plastic surgery procedures. There are some known risks, which vary in severity depending on the procedure being performed. These include infection, fluid accumulation beneath the skin (which must be drained), blood vessel damage, nerve damage or loss of feeling, internal perforation injury, and skin injury.
And, keep in mind that if a complication occurs at any time during the operation your surgeon may have to switch to an open procedure, which will result in a more extensive scar and a longer recovery period. However, to date, such complications are rare--estimated to occur in less that 5 percent of all endoscopy procedures.

Deciding if Endoscopic Surgery is right for you:
Although much is still unknown about endoscopic plastic surgery, you may want to focus on what is known as you make your decision. Considering the following:
For decades, endoscopy has been used successfully in orthopedic, urologic, and gynecologic procedures. Improved technology now permits endoscopy to be used by plastic surgeons.
In some cases, endoscopic surgery may require less recovery time than is usually required for open procedures.
Patients who tend to be the best candidates for cosmetic endoscopic procedures are those who don't have large amounts of loose hanging skin.