[Anesthesiology implications of laparoscopic surgery]

Laparoscopic surgery is constantly advancing and has produced a small revolution in how surgery is used in a range of abdominal disease. Against the undisputed advantages laparoscopy brings to surgery (shorter hospital stay, rapid return to normal activity, more comfortable postoperative recovery and so on), we must weight its technical and anesthetic limitations, as well as the possibility of associated complications. At this time, appropriate indications for applying this technique in preference to conventional surgery are still in the process of being established. The solution to this very recently posed problem will come as a result of further developments in laparoscopic procedures, greater experience and larger studies of morbidity and mortality. It seems clear that in spite of their advantages, surgical techniques involving minimal abdominal incisions will be the subject of controversy and debate for some time to come.