Laparoscopic surgery in the University Hospital in Monterrey, Mexico

From October 1992 to February 1996, 1506 gynecologic surgeries were performed in our hospital. Of these, 270 (17.9%) were done by laparoscopy: 204 (75.5%) operative and 66 (24.5%) diagnostic. The procedures were 59 (28.9%) hysterectomies, 15 (25.4%) of them radical hysterectomies, 6 laparoscopic-assisted stagings for endometrial cancer, and 38 laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomies. Fifty-eight (28.4%) surgeries were performed for adnexal masses and 16 (7.8%) for ectopic pregnancies. We also did 7 (3.4%) Burch procedures, 5 (2.4%) ligamentopexies, and 65 other surgeries including coagulation of endometriosis, adhesiolysis, uterosacral nerve ablations, and tubal ligations. The six complications (2.22%) were two patients with fever, one infection in the vaginal cuff, one vaginal hematoma, one ureteral injury during radical hysterectomy, and one bladder injury during a Burch procedure. We believe operative laparoscopy should be part of the training of every gynecologist.