title: Gynaecological laparoscopic surgery: eight years experience in the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
abstract: This is a retrospective analysis of eight years of gynaecological laparoscopic surgery in a resource-limited setting. All gynaecological patients managed by laparoscopy at the Yaoundé Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital from 1 January 2004 to 30 November 2011 were included. Amongst the 9194 gynaecological surgeries performed during the study period, 6.9% (633) were done by laparoscopy. Most of the women underwent an operative laparoscopy (568/592; 95.9%). The most common indication was infertility (415/592; 70.1%). Diagnostic laparoscopies were mostly indicated for chronic pelvic pain (18/24; 75%). The most common surgical finding was tubo-peritoneal adhesions (412/592; 69.6%). A total of 35 patients (35/592; 5.9%) had at least one complication. The mean duration of hospitalization was 3.4 ±1.8 days. The general uptake of gynaecological laparoscopic surgery is low in our setting. The laparoscopic complication rate of 5.9% is encouraging.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Emile
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mboudou
authors.forename: Frederick L I
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Morfaw
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foumane
authors.forename: Julius Dohbit
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sama
authors.forename: Bernard Armand Enama
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Mbatsogo
authors.forename: Jacqueline Ze
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Minkande
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000601:surgery; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000209:etiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cameroon; gynaecological surgery; laparoscopy; low resource setting