A new minimally invasive surgical technique for the treatment of ovarian cysts in children

Abstract

The topical issue of pediatric surgery is the treatment of ovarian cysts based on the development of new technologies for surgical correction of the disease. Aim. To analyze the effectiveness of using a new minimally invasive method for removal of cystic ovarian neoplasms in children. Material and methods. A retrospective analysis of 77 female patients with ovarian cysts, aged from 3 months to 17 years, was carried out. The patients were divided into 3 groups depending on the various surgical techniques used for their treatment. Group I consisted of 32 (41 %) girls who underwent cystectomy according to the new transabdominal technique for removing ovarian cysts in children. Group II included 19 (25 %) children who underwent a laparoscopic surgery. Group III comprised 26 (34 %) children who underwent a hybrid laparoscopy-assisted cystectomy. The following indicators were analyzed: the age of patients, the nature and number of complications of the disease course, the size of cystic neoplasms, the duration of surgical interventions, the number of cases accompanied by cyst contents leaking into the abdominal cavity during surgical manipulations, and the length of hospital stay. Results. The mean age of all patients was 11.23 ± 0.57 years. Planned hospitalizations amounted to 46 (59.7 %) cases. The duration of surgery in group I was almost 1.5 times lower (P < 0.05) than that in patients of group II and 2 times shorter than in children of group III (P < 0.05). Free cyst contents leaking into the abdominal cavity was observed in 35 (91.4 %) patients of Group III, which required additional measures aimed at the abdominal cavity sanation. The proposed minimally invasive transabdominal surgical technique prevented this complication in all 32 patients of Group I. The length of hospital stay did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) between children groups I and II and did not exceed 7.50 ± 0.35 (M ± SEM) days. This indicator was almost 1.5 times higher in Group III patients. Conclusions. The new minimally invasive transabdominal method for removing cystic ovarian neoplasms in children provided minimal trauma with maximum ablasticity and cosmetic effect of the operation. The proposed technique made it possible to prevent the development of intraoperative and postoperative complications, significantly reduce the duration of surgery and the recovery time of patients.