title: Abdominal lymphangiomas in children: interest of the laparoscopic approach.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lymphangiomas are rare benign lesions of the lymphatic system. The most common symptoms are abdominal tumor or "acute abdomen" in children. The treatment of choice is complete surgical resection, but the recurrence rate with incomplete resection is high, and laparotomy exposes the patient to adhesions. The authors report their experience with the lymphangioma laparoscopic approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study examined 15 consecutive operations for lymphangiomas in children, ages 5 months to 14 years, treated during the 5-year period from 1999 to 2004.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six patients were treated using the primary laparotomy approach, and nine patients underwent the laparoscopic procedure, six successfully. Three conversions were necessary (1 case requiring partial colectomy, 1 retroperitoneal case with adherence on the aorta and vena cava, 1 case with partial volvulus). Morbidity included two cases of acute occlusion caused by adhesions after laparotomy. There was no recurrence of lymphangioma during a mean follow-up period of 35 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The laparoscopy procedure could be used successfully for abdominal lymphangioma, even in an emergency. When the laparoscopic resection is impossible, laparotomy or sclerotherapy can be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Service de Chirurgie Pédiatrique, Hôpital d'Enfant la Timone, 264 rue Saint Pierre, 13005, Marseille, France. pascal.delagausie@ap-hm.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Lagausie
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonnard
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berrebi
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lepretre
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Statopoulos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delarue
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Guys
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D008202:Lymphangioma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D018191:Lymphangioma, Cystic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler