JOURNAL OF MEDICAL AND SURGICAL RESEARCH - Vol. I, n 2 , December, 2014

Pages: 67-72
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Pediatric Laparoscopic Surgery

Author: D. El Azzouzi, A. Lasseri

Category: JMSR Surgery

Abstract:

The first case of laparoscopy in pediatric surgery was reported by Stephen Gans in 1971, in his landmark publication, "Advances in Endoscopy of Infants and Children," as a peritoneoscopy. The term peritoneoscopy was soon replaced by Pediatric Laparoscopy.The availability of smaller instruments expanded the role and applications of laparoscopy and thoracoscopy in very small infants and newborns. Initially, application of laparoscopy in children was for diagnostic purposes.
Pediatric surgeons were initially slower to adopt laparoscopic techniques than surgeons for adults. This was due to several limiting factors, including the lack of availability of child or adolescent-size instrumentation, surgical learning curves, and limited case volumes for complex procedures. In recent years, however, there have been marked advances in instrumentation, techniques, and training. Minimally invasive approaches have become the standard of care for operations involving the thoracic and abdominal cavities for all ages, including newborn congenital anomalies. As with adult procedures, pediatric laparoscopy offers advantages of fewer major wound-associated complications, less incisional pain, a shorter recovery, and improved cosmesis. Laparoscopy in children and adolescents bears marked similarities to adult procedures, but experience with adult surgery does not sufficiently translate to safe surgery in pediatric patients. Pediatric procedures must be performed with a full understanding of the relevant anatomic and physiologic differences between the pediatric and adult populations.

Keywords: Laparoscopy, pediatric, surgery