BLADDER LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY

The advances made in laparoscopic surgery during the last five years h ave made possible the performance of a variety of bladder level proced ures as suspension of the bladder neck, removal of bladder diverticulu m and cystectomy. Laparoscopic bladder-neck suspension is purposed by different Authors as a minimally invasive procedure that can be provid e efficacious results as like as open surgery, reducing post-operative disconfort. All different laparoscopic technique provide good results at short-term follow-up. A longer follow-up period is reqiured for th e evaluation of the effective efficacy of this treatment. In according with other authors, our experience with laparoscopic bladder divertic ulectomy demonstrates the feasibility and the potentiality of this tec hnique. Up to now this procedure has been employed in the treatment of diverticula involved in urinary infection or residual urine. At the b eginning, laparoscopic cystectomy has been purposed in patients with b egin disease; more recently, laparoscopy has been employed for cystect omy in case of bladder cancer. The few cases described demonstrate tha t the technique is feasible but, until now, laparoscopic cystectomy ha s been reported just in female patients.