Place of laparoscopy in paediatric surgery.

The development of laparoscopy in children is designed to decrease the risk s of this technique by respecting certain rules (particularly open laparosc opy). The indications are beginning to be well defined for certain frequent diseases (appendicitis, impalpable testes, gastro-oesophageal reflux) suit able for prospective studies, but remain much more subjective in other indi cations (splenectomy, lumboscopy) due to the limited paediatric series.