Errors and complications in laparoscopic surgery

Background. In laparoscopic surgery errors are unavoidable and require proper acknowledgment to reduce the risk of intraoperative and accurately assess the appropriate therapeutic approach. Fortunately, their frequency is low and cannot overshadow the benefits of laparoscopic surgery. Materials and Methods. We made an epidemiological investigation in General Surgery Department of Emergency Clinical Hospital "St. John" Bucharest, analyzing 20 years of experience in laparoscopic surgery, during 1994-2014. We wanted to identify evolution trends in complications of laparoscopic surgery, analyzing the dynamic of errors occurred in all patients with laparoscopic procedures. Results. We recorded 26847 laparoscopic interventions with a total of 427 intra-or postoperative complications that required 160 conversions and 267 reinterventions to resolve inconsistencies. The average frequency of occurrence of complications was 15.9‰ (15.9 of 1,000 cases). In the period under review it was a good momentum of laparoscopic procedures in our department. Number of minimally invasive interventions increased almost 10 times, from 266 cases operated laparoscopically in 1995 to 2638 cases in 2008. Annual growth of the number of laparoscopic procedures has surpassed the number of complications. Conclusions. Laborious work of laparoscopic surgery and a specialized centre with well-trained team of surgeons provide premises for a good performance even in the assimilation of new and difficult procedures.