Role of diagnostic laparoscopy in chronic and recurrent abdominal pain.
BACKGROUND
Chronic abdominal pain is a very common condition presenting to a general surgeon. It is defined as pain lasting for more than 3 months. Sometimes, the diagnosis cannot be established even with the help of advanced radiological investigations. This study aims to define the role of laparoscopy in diagnosing the cause of chronic abdominal pain and thus enabling a definitive management.


METHODS
The study included 52 patients admitted to the Department of Surgery, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, India for chronic abdominal pain of unknown origin. All patients underwent diagnostic laparoscopy with methodical inspection of the whole abdomen.


RESULTS
Diagnosis was established in 86.5% of cases either by direct visualization or histopathological examination. The most common pathology was chronic appendicitis (19%) followed by adhesions (17.3%) and peritoneal tuberculosis (15.3%). A therapeutic procedure was done in 46% of cases during laparoscopy. No major complication was reported during the study.


CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopy is a safe and effective method to diagnose the cause of chronic abdominal pain in cases where other non-invasive methods prove unreliable.
Musharraf
M
Husain
Praveendra Kumar
PK
Sachan
Sabina
S
Khan
Lovneesh
L
Lama
Rehan N
RN
Khan
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult