Today, many procedures that previously required a laparotomy can now be carried out by laparoscopy. The benefits of minimal access surgery have been well recorded; they include less post-operative morbidity, shorter duration of hospital stay and a faster return to work. It is advances in technology, specifically in fibre optics and camera arrays, that have made the relatively recent rapid progress in laparoscopic surgery possible. Operative laparoscopy, however, requires a high degree of technical skill and training.
aNuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, UK
bCentre for Surgical Technologies, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
cDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, Assisted Conception Unit, Women's Centre, University of Oxford at The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
ABSTRACT