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The evolving role of laparoscopy in the surgical management of oncology patients
Pennsylvania Hospital, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia
Minimally invasive surgery offers several important advantages to the cancer patient needing surgery: less bleeding; less trauma; less risk of incisional hernias, wound adhesions, and postoperative infection; and quicker, less painful recovery. Even for patients with large abdominal tumors, laparoscopic surgery may still be appropriate and superior to open surgery. Early concerns about using minimally invasive surgery for cancer operations have proven to be largely unfounded in the hands of experienced laparoscopic surgeons. Laparoscopy is used today as a diagnostic and staging tool; to sample tissue and search for metastases; to provide palliative care (eg, to create a bypass in patients with unresectable disease) and alleviate symptoms (eg, in patients with bowel obstructions); and to remove masses and perform other surgical interventions with curative intent. Technological advances in laparoscopy have been rapid, and evidence from controlled clinical trials is growing that minimally invasive surgery and its open counterpart are equivalent in terms of results. Still, surgeons need time to develop the skill sets that will allow them to perform these operations in a safe and appropriate fashion.
| Commun Oncol 2006;3:507–511 | full text |  159 kb |