Minilaparotomy female sterilisation in clients with lower midline abdominal scar

A total of 1221 female clients were sterilised via minilaparotomy under local anaesthesia as outpatients. 101 of these clients had lower midline abdominal scars, 1120 did not. The first group had slightly increased minilap incision length, duration of surgery and amount of local anaesthesia required compared to the second group but the differences were not clinically significant. The "scar group" also tended to have wider ranges for these same parameters, and there was one case of abandoned procedure. The incidence of peri-operative complications was low, and most of these were minor transitory grievances--the incidence was slightly more in the previous scar group. Minilap female sterilisation under local anaesthesia is safe and suitable even for clients with a lower midline abdominal scar, but good counselling and meticulous client selection is a prerequisite.