[Endoscopic surgery--economic aspects from the viewpoint of a university clinic]

In this overview minimal invasive surgery as demonstrated by endoscopic cholecystectomy is audited in comparison to conventional surgery as regards economic efficiency in the view of an university hospital. The costs of investment are significantly higher for minimal invasive surgery compared to conventional surgery, but the running costs are nearly identical for both procedures. Most decisive is the influence of minimal invasive surgery on the postoperative hospitalization time: by cutting this time the quantity of available hospital beds has to be reduced (in the case of invariable number for patients), however, this has no dramatic influence on the size of the surgical department.