Minilaparoscopic surgery. Alternative or supplement to single-port surgery?

In recent years scarless surgery (axillo-bilateral-breast aproach [ABBA], natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery [NOTES], single-port surgery) has gained importance in order to improve postoperative outcome in laparoscopic surgery. As part of this effort minilaparoscopic surgery might be a suitable alternative concerning cosmetic outcome without implementing a completely new technique. Due to the definition minilaparoscopic surgery is based on instruments which reduce the total length of trocar incisions to less than 2.5 cm. Nevertheless the total number of incisions is similar to conventional laparoscopic techniques. Most recent indications for minilaparoscopic surgery are cholecystectomy, appendectomy, hernia and colorectal surgery. This article describes the technical aspects and feasibility of minilaparoscopic cholecystectomy and transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair (TAPP). While the trocar positions remain in the original setting the laparoscopic surgeon benefits from experience gained in conventional laparoscopic surgery. Although the cosmetic outcome is not comparable to single-port surgery, in the author's opinion minilaparoscopic surgery is a useful alternative in scarless surgery due to the fact that it is easy to adapt without establishing a completely new technique.