title: Non-traumatic acute abdomen: videolaparoscopic approach.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although videolaparoscopy has been considered a safe method for many elective procedures, its use in traumatic and non-traumatic acute abdomen needs to be evaluated. The aim of this article is to evaluate the role of videolaparoscopy in non-traumatic acute abdomen as a method of diagnosis and treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 1992 and December 1996, 462 patients' charts were reviewed, retrospectively. Patients were admitted to the emergency room of São Rafael Hospital with symptoms of non-traumatic acute abdomen. Routine investigation of abdominal pain was performed in all patients, followed by videolaparoscopy. The laparoscopic procedures were done with four main purposes: diagnosis (ie, enteritis); diagnosis and treatment (ie, appendicitis); treatment only, when the diagnosis was known (ie, acute cholecystitis); and in cases where the conversion to conventional laparotomy was necessary, indicating the best incision.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vast majority of patients had inflammatory causes of acute abdomen (82.03%); others causes were hemoperitoneum (11.03%), bowel obstruction (3.25%), perforation of a hollow viscera (1.74%), vascular occlusion (1.3%), and negative laparoscopy (0.65%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that laparotomy was necessary in only 7.14% of the patients. The videolaparoscopic approach was used for diagnosis (99.35%) and treatment (92.86%) of patients with acute abdomen.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fahel
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Filho
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ettinger
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Fortes
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Alcântara
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Regis
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Fogagnoli
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Santana
mesh_terms: D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D001938:Brazil; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020535:Video-Assisted Surgery