Role of single-site and mini-laparoscopy in gynecologic surgery

INTRODUCTION

Laparoscopy is a surgical procedure that has been used widely in medicine over the last thirty years. In gynecology, laparoscopy is the "gold standard" for the majority of gynecological procedures, as its superiority over laparotomy has been widely demonstrated. In recent years, the current trend of gynecologists is to make laparoscopy surgery even less invasive by reducing the number of incisions in the skin, as it happens with laparoendoscopic single-site surgery, or by reducing the size of them as in mini-laparoscopy. The aim of this work was to perform an extensive review and update of the evolution of single-port surgery and mini-laparoscopic surgery in gynecology as well as to evaluate its current role in this field.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A systematic review was performed during April and May 2020. PRISMA guidelines were followed for the literature search.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

The main objective of performing less invasive procedures is to reduce both intraoperative complications (decreased risk of bleeding or damage to internal organs), and postoperative ones (hernias through the trocar) and improve cosmetic results. Results of studies about LESS and mini-LPS showed encouraging results, being both of them safe with a similar perioperative and postoperative outcome. They have the approval of the international surgical community as well as patients' satisfaction with cosmetic results.

CONCLUSIONS

Minimally invasive surgery is the present and future in gynecological surgery. More prospective randomized trials are needed in order to obtain valid results and affirm that both LESS and Mini-LPS are superior to conventional laparoscopy.