Recent advances in laparoscopic surgery

Laparoscopic surgery has been widely adopted and new technical innovation, procedures and evidence based knowledge are persistently emerging. This review documents recent major advancements in laparoscopic surgery. A PubMed search was made in order to identify recent advances in this field. We reviewed the recent data on randomized trials in this field as well as papers of systematic review. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most frequently performed procedure, followed by laparoscopic bariatric surgery. Although bile duct injuries are relatively uncommon (0.15%-0.6%), intraoperative cholangiography still plays a role in reducing the cost of litigation. Laparoscopic bariatric surgery is the most commonly performed laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery in the USA, and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication is the treatment of choice for intractable gastroesophageal reflux disease. Recent randomized trials have demonstrated that laparoscopic gastric and colorectal cancer resection are safe and oncologically correct procedures. Laparoscopic surgery has also been widely developed in hepatic, pancreatic, gynecological and urological surgery. Recently, SILS and robotic surgery have penetrated all specialties of abdominal surgery. However, evidence-based medicine has failed to show major advantages in SILS, and the disadvantage of robotic surgery is the high costs related to purchase and maintenance of technology. Laparoscopic surgery has become well developed in recent decades and is the choice of treatment in abdominal surgery. Recently developed SILS techniques and robotic surgery are promising but their benefits remain to be determined.