Outpatient minilaparotomy for ovarian cysts

To design an operative procedure for the ambulatory management of ovarian cysts using classical surgical techniques.

One hundred consecutive patients 55 years old or younger with 115 persistent or complex ovarian cysts less than 10 cm in diameter were managed as outpatients by minilaparotomy. Minilaparotomy is defined as a transverse or vertical incision 3-5 cm in length. The procedure and anesthetic were dictated by each clinical situation. Bupivacaine HCl with epinephrine was injected in the wound preemptively, and ketorolac was administered systemically perioperatively. Operative times, complications and pathology were determined for each case.

The procedures (unilateral cystectomy, 65; bilateral cystectomy, 9; unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, 20; and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, 6) were performed under general endotracheal anesthesia in 89, laryngeal mask anesthesia in 5 and spinal block in 6. Mean operative time was 46 minutes. Estimated blood loss in 96% of cases was < 50 mL, and none was > 100 mL. Pathology in two cases revealed adenocarcinoma of borderline malignancy. Remaining histology included endometrioma, 40; dermoid, 25; serous cystadenomas, 14; hemorrhagic corpus luteum, 9; mucinous cystadenoma, 8; cystadenofibroma, 7; follicular cyst, 3; fibrothecoma, 2; and peritoneal inclusion cyst, 1. Ninety-six of 100 patients were discharged on the day of surgery. Two were admitted for urinary retention, one for severe nausea and vomiting, and one for diabetes control.

Minilaparotomy is a safe, rapid procedure for the management of ovarian cysts on an ambulatory basis. It can be performed under regional anesthesia, avoids intraperitoneal spill and requires only basic operative techniques and instrumentation. Minilaparotomy is also a cost-effective technique for outpatient management of ovarian cysts.