title: The role of laparoscopy in ovarian tumors of low malignant potential and early-stage ovarian cancer.
abstract: Although it is feasible today to perform laparoscopic surgical staging and treatment of ovarian low malignant potential tumors and early-stage ovarian cancer safely, it is still generally agreed that a patient with ovarian cancer should have a laparotomy. Concerns related to laparoscopy in managing gynecologic malignancy include the accuracy of intraoperative diagnosis, inadequate resection, significance of tumor spillage, improper or delay in surgical staging, delay in therapy, and the possibility of port-site metastasis. On the other hand, laparoscopy has the advantages of being a minimally invasive surgery, with shorter hospitalization, decreased postoperative pain, and quicker return to normal daily activities. We review the current literature discussing the consequences of laparoscopic surgery in ovarian tumors of low malignant potential and early-stage ovarian cancer.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Family Physicians.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  After completion of this article, the reader should be able to list the concerns related to laparoscopic management of ovarian malignancies, to outline the accuracy of the diagnosis of low malignant potential (LMP) ovarian tumors on frozen section, and to summarize the data on the effect of capsule rupture on overall prognosis for patients with ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot 76100, Israel. ediva@clalit.org.il
authors.forename: Edi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vaisbuch
authors.forename: Ram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dgani
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben-Arie
authors.forename: Zion
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hagay
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005629:Frozen Sections; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D007813:Laparotomy; D009366:Neoplasm Seeding; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis