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Intraoperative Rupture of Ovarian Dermoid Cysts in the Pediatric and Adolescent Population: Should This Change Your
Krista J Childress1, Xiomara M Santos2, Gisselle Perez-Milicua1
1Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
Insights
Intraoperative rupture during laparoscopic ovarian dermoid cyst removal in pediatric patients rarely causes chemical peritonitis. Minimally invasive surgery is a safe approach for these ovarian dermoid cysts.
Area of Science:
- Gynecology
- Pediatric Surgery
- Surgical Oncology
Background:
- Ovarian dermoid cysts are common in pediatric and adolescent females.
- Intraoperative cyst rupture can lead to chemical peritonitis, a potential complication of cystectomy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the incidence of chemical peritonitis after cystectomy for ovarian dermoid cysts with intraoperative rupture in pediatric and adolescent patients.
- To compare intraoperative and postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic versus laparotomy cystectomies for ovarian dermoid cysts, particularly those with intraoperative rupture.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of 144 female patients (ages 1-21) who underwent ovarian cystectomy for benign dermoid cysts between 2007 and 2015.
- Data collected included cyst characteristics, surgical approach (laparoscopy vs. laparotomy), intraoperative cyst rupture, and postoperative complications.
Main Results:
- No cases of chemical peritonitis were observed despite 50.7% of patients experiencing cyst fluid spill.
- Laparoscopic procedures had a higher rate of cyst fluid spill (63.2%) compared to laparotomy (15.8%), especially with larger cysts (>5 cm).
- There were no significant differences in repeat cystectomy rates or major postoperative complications between laparoscopic and laparotomy groups.
Conclusions:
- Laparoscopic cystectomy for ovarian dermoid cysts is associated with increased intraoperative rupture but is rarely complicated by peritonitis.
- Minimally invasive surgical management, including laparoscopy, is a reasonable and safe approach for pediatric and adolescent ovarian dermoid cysts, even with intraoperative rupture.
Study Objective:
(1) To determine the incidence of chemical peritonitis after cystectomy for ovarian dermoid cysts with intraoperative cyst rupture in the pediatric and adolescent population; and (2) to examine the intraoperative and postoperative outcomes of cystectomies performed for ovarian dermoid cysts using laparoscopy and laparotomy, especially those with intraoperative cyst rupture.
Design:
A retrospective cohort study of female patients who underwent ovarian cystectomy with proven ovarian dermoid pathology between July 2007 and July 2015.
Setting:
Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas.
Participants:
One hundred forty-four patients between the ages of 1 and 21 years who underwent an ovarian cystectomy with proven benign ovarian dermoid histology on the basis of pathology reports.
Interventions And Main Outcome Measures:
Occurrence of spill of cyst contents, chemical peritonitis, postoperative complications, and hospital readmissions.
Results:
One hundred forty-four female patients underwent cystectomy (38 laparotomy and 106 laparoscopy) resulting in benign ovarian dermoid histology. Their mean age was 12.4 ± 4.1 years (range, 1-21), mean cyst size was 9.2 ± 6.4 cm (range, 1-30 cm), no patients had elevated tumor markers, 42 (29.1%) presented with torsion, 73 (50.7%) had cyst fluid spill, and there were no cases of chemical peritonitis. Few significant differences were found between cases performed via laparoscopy and laparotomy and those with and without intraoperative cyst rupture resulting in spill of contents. Laparotomy cases were found to have larger mean cyst size (P < .001), estimated blood loss (P = .003), and presence of bilateral cysts (P = .017) compared with laparoscopic cases. Cyst fluid spill occurred in more laparoscopic cases ([67/106] 63.2% vs [6/38] 15.8%; P < .001), and risk increased with cyst size greater than 5 cm (P < .001). In the laparoscopy group, cyst size greater than 5 cm was more likely to present with torsion (P < .001). There was no significant difference in the repeat cystectomy rate between the laparoscopy and laparotomy groups even with cyst rupture (P = .394). Only 5 cases presented to the emergency room postoperatively and 2 were admitted postoperatively for umbilical port site dehiscence and pyelonephritis.
Conclusion:
Laparoscopic cystectomy of ovarian dermoid cysts is associated with greater intraoperative cyst rupture. However, cyst rupture is rarely associated with complications, therefore minimally invasive surgical management of ovarian dermoid cysts is a reasonable surgical approach.
