American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists' 1982 membership survey

A survey of 1,024 U.S. members of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL) concerning 1982 practice revealed that 125,560 laparoscopic sterilizations had been performed. The bipolar method was the most frequent one, used by 65%. The band was used by 21%, the clip by 4% and the unipolar method by 11%. Local anesthesia was used in 4% of cases and open laparoscopy in 4%. No correlation was possible between technique used and the incidence of hemorrhage (0.45 per 1,000), bowel injury (0.42 per 1,000), postoperative pelvic infection (0.42 per 1,000) or anesthetic complications (0.16 per 1,000).