Diagnostic laparoscopy: a prognostic aid in the surgical management of infertility

Laparoscopy was utilized as the final step in the infertility investigation of 155 indigent patients. Unnecessary laparotomy was avoided in 72 (46 per cent) of these patients. Depending upon the endoscopic findings, the presence of additional infertility factor(s) either positively or negatively affected prognosis. With the same anesthetic, 83 (54 per cent) of the 155 patients underwent conservative infertility operations. Unless even greater selectivity can be achieved by prior diagnostic laparoscopy, the postoperative term pregnancy rate (11 per cent) does not justify infertility operations in a population prone to pelvic inflammatory disease, particularly in those individuals with other infertility factors.