Background and Purpose: Postoperative adhesions frequently occur and can ac
count for various symptoms, including chronic abdominal pain. Conventional
adhesiolysis by laparotomy results in an unacceptably high rate of recurren
ce. A minimally invasive procedure (laparoscopic adhesiolysis) might improv
e the outcome by inflicting less surgical trauma, but well-documented repor
ts focused on laparoscopic adhesiolysis for chronic abdominal pain are lack
ing.
Patients and Methods: Twelve consecutive patients with chronic abdominal pa
in caused by adhesions who were treated by laparoscopic adhesiolysis were a
ssessed preoperatively and during a 1-year follow-up period applying valida
ted scoring systems: McGill and SLC-90 tests to evaluate personalities and
MOS SF-36 and GIQLI questionnaires for the quality of life assessments.
Results: No psychological influences were identified, Only two patients exp
erienced a lasting improvement in quality of life, and five patients had mo
re or less stable complaints. Five patients required laparotomy within a ye
ar after laparoscopic adhesiolysis,
Conclusions: Laparoscopic adhesiolysis has yet not passed the stage of clin
ical trial and requires objective evaluation, including detailed informatio
n on recurrence and de novo adhesions in correlation with clinical outcome.