Laparoscopic port-site recurrence following surgery for a stage IB squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix with negative lymph nodes

Background. Port-site metastases are commonly reported after laparoscopic s urgery for ovarian cancer, but have also been reported in patients with cer vical or endometrial cancer with positive lymph nodes. Recently, a case of port-site recurrence after laparoscopic surgery for a patient with node-neg ative early-stage adenocarcinoma of the cervix was reported. We report the first case of port-site metastasis in a patient with stage IB squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix with negative lymph nodes. Case. A 31-year-old woman had a laparoscopy for pelvic pain. Under anesthes ia, she was noted to have a grossly abnormal-looking cervix and a biopsy re vealed squamous cell carcinoma. She was referred to a gynecological oncolog ist and underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection thr ough a transverse lower abdominal incision 6 weeks later. Nineteen months p ostoperatively, she presented with a soft tissue mass in a suprapubic lapar oscopic trocar site. Conclusion. It is postulated that cells dislodged at the time of cervical m anipulation and biopsy may have passed through the fallopian tubes and impl anted in the laparoscopic port site due to the "chimney effect" caused by t he pneumoperitoneum. (C) 2000 Academic Press.