Urinary tract injuries during advanced gynecologic laparoscopy.

Urinary tract injuries are important complications of laparoscopic surgery. The intraoperative diagnosis may be delayed, resulting in severe clinical complications, such as fistulas, in the immediate and late postoperative periods. A review of 776 endoscopic procedures revealed 6 urinary tract injuries and postoperative complications during laparoscopy. We believe that surgical experience, intraoperative diagnosis, immediate repair of the lesion, and close follow-up are the main factors contributing to decreased morbidity associated with these injuries.

Laparoscopic management of selected adnexal masses.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance, safety, and intraoperative and immediate postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic management of adnexal masses thought to be at low risk for malignancy. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). SETTING: Tertiary-care teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Two hundred twenty women undergoing laparoscopic surgery for adnexal masses. INTERVENTIONS: Laparoscopic treatment including cystectomy, oophorectomy, adnexectomy, and peritoneal cytology, and, if necessary, frozen sections. A histologic diagnosis was obtained in every patient. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Only one ovarian cancer and one borderline ovarian tumor were diagnosed by histologic examination, and both were managed by laparotomy. The remaining 218 patients had laparoscopy for benign adnexal masses. CONCLUSION: Operative laparoscopy with the finding of incidental ovarian malignancy is rare, as shown by pathologic examination. With appropriate preoperative evaluation, laparoscopic surgery is technically feasible, safe, and advantageous, with minimal morbidity, and should replace laparotomy in the management of most adnexal masses. (J Am Assoc Gynecol Laparosc 6(3):313-316, 1999)