Value of laparoscopic staging for Hodgkin disease

Because of the potential for complications with laparotomy and splenectomy, and the widespread use of combination chemotherapy as first-line treatment , surgical staging is now performed in only 30% of patients with Hodgkin di sease. Laparoscopic staging has rarely been reported. Three patients with t he nodular sclerosis cell type of Hodgkin disease underwent laparoscopic st aging. Mean operative time was 207 minutes. No conversion to laparotomy was necessary. There were no peri- or postoperative complications and no death s. Mean blood loss was negligible. The pathologist deemed all liver and lym ph nodes biopsies adequate for histologic analysis. Stage IA and IIA were c onfirmed in two patients; one patient with stage IIA was upstaged to IIIA a fter surgery. Performed by an experienced team, laparoscopy is the procedur e of choice for abdominal staging of patients with Hodgkin disease.