ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY - A MEANS OF REDUCING POSTOPERATIVE PAIN

An analysis of pain following endoscopic surgery has rarely been performed. On the basis of our own prospective observational study, laparoscopic cholecystectomy has been found to have advantages in terms of the target criterion ''post-operative pain''. Laparoscopic surgery was followed by an appreciably lower consumption of opioids, while conventional cholecystectomy was associated with protracted pain. The laparoscopic surgical technique had no influence on the quality of pain, and it was not possible to identify predictors of a high level of postoperative pain. While reports in the literature identify numerous advantages of laparoscopic surgery, the differences with respect to the target criterion ''postoperative pain '' are less clear than is generally postulated. Further laparoscopic techniques have yet to be unequivocally shown to be associated with a reduction in postoperative pain.