Laparoscopic Surgery During Pregnancy

Adnexal masses diagnosed in a gravid woman sometimes must be surgically evaluated and treated during the pregnancy. A laparoscopic surgical approach may have several advantages over laparotomy, but only one case of laparoscopic adnexal surgery during pregnancy has been previously reported. Two pregnant patients with acute pelvic pain and adnexal masses were surgically treated via operative laparoscopy. One patient had a large benign cystic teratoma and one had torsion of the fallopian tube secondary to a paratubal cyst. Cystectomies were performed in both cases and in the second case the tube was reduced and conserved. It appears that with proper surgical technique and caution to exclude malignancy, laparoscopy may be successfully used to remove adnexal masses during the second trimester of pregnancy.