There are risks with any surgery. Everyone you meet will tell you a horror story about surgery, and paramedics probably have more to share than most -- for instance, my exSIL left hospital with a surgical sponge inside her after a cs (major abdominal surgery). OTOH, lots of people have had painful but successful and uncomplicated surgeries, with no clips and no sponges, wristwatches, etc., left behind after being sewn up. You don't hear so much about the positive experiences that the vast majority of people have, because good news is not news, or fun to relate to someone facing surgery.
The vast majority of abdominal surgeries (with the exception of CS) these days are laporoscopic, and the very good reasons are that the surgery is far less complicated as the incisions are so small, recovery takes much less time and is much less painful. I had lap surgery for my gallbladder about 16 years ago. The surgeon even moved a stone through my bile duct where it was lodged into my stomach, an unusual turn of events and the surgery lasted longer than anticipated. I walked up two flights of stairs to where I lived the day I was discharged.
Another factor to consider is that lap surgery is so common now that a lot of surgeons, especially younger ones, do not actually have the kind of expertise you would really expect for traditional methods of surgery. Your surgeon will probably be very well trained in lap techniques because it is the standard procedure now and has been for a long while.