THE FEASIBILITY OF OPEN LAPAROSCOPY IN GYNECOLOGIC-ONCOLOGIC PATIENTS

Gynecologic-oncologic patients are at increased risk for complications with closed laparoscopy. Open laparoscopy eliminates the steps of bli nd insufflation and trocar insertion. This study is the first large se ries of open laparoscopies to assess the feasibility and safety of the open laparoscopy technique in patients with gynecologic malignancies. We performed 90 open laparoscopies in 89 oncologic patients with prev ious major surgery (65%) and/or radiotherapy (17%) or a large omental cake (18%). Complications due to the laparoscopic access technique occ urred in one patient (1%) for whom a laparotomy was performed for a sm all bowel perforation. The incidence of complications of the open lapa roscopy technique (1%) is favorable compared to the complication rate of closed laparoscopy in gynecologic-oncologic patients. It is conclud ed that open laparoscopy is a safe and feasible technique in gynecolog ic-oncologic patients. (C) 1997 Academic Press.