Laparoscopic Surgery: Open Entry Does Not Reduce Complications

Complications of laparoscopic surgery, which fortunately are rare, usually occur upon entry into the abdominal cavity. Trocar insertion after creation of a pneumoperitoneum with a Veress needle (i.e., the closed technique) is thought to cause more injuries than trocar insertion after peritoneal incision under direct vision (i.e., the open technique); however, no data exist to verify this impression. Thus, these researchers sent questionnaires to members of the Dutch Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy and Minimal Invasive Surgery to gather data on laparoscopies that were performed from 1997 through 2001. Entry-related complications were recorded and compared between surgeons who used only the closed technique (group I) and those who used b…