Comparison of the safety of open and conventional laparoscopic sterilization

Presented is a comparison of the safety of open and conventional laparoscopy. The 1400 cases make up a data set consisting of 1112 cases of open and 288 cases of conventional laparoscopy. The two techniques were compared with respect to three parameters commonly used to evaluate safety. For the open versus the conventional technique, the rates of surgical difficulties were 2.9 and 2.1%, respectively, rates of surgical complications were 1.4% for both techniques, and rates of technical failures were 0.2 and 2.0%, respectively. All the problems that led to technical failure were however, due to preexisting conditions. These data indicate that with respect to safety, the open technique is comparable with the conventional technique. However, the present data set cannot address the comparative risks of the infrequent but potentially life-threatening risks of major blood vessel laceration and viscus injury.