Does single-port laparoscopic surgery reduce postoperative pain in women with benign gynecologic disease?

• Published in: Journal of laparoendoscopic & advanced surgical techniques. Part A Vol. 23; no. 12; p. 999
• Main Authors: Eom, Jeong Min, Choi, Joong Sub, Choi, Won Joon, Kim, Yun Hong, Lee, Jung Hun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-12-2013
• Subjects: Adult; Analgesics - administration & dosage; Case-Control Studies; Female; Genital Diseases, Female - surgery; Humans; Hysterectomy - methods; Laparoscopy - methods; Middle Aged; Pain Measurement; Pain, Postoperative - prevention & control; Prospective Studies; Republic of Korea; Republic of Korea
• ISSN: 1557-9034
• DOI: 10.1089/lap.2013.0184

Reduced postoperative pain, one of the potential benefits of single-port laparoscopic surgery (SP-LS), has clinically significant importance. The objectives of this study are to compare postoperative pain between SP-LS and conventional laparoscopic surgery (conventional-LS) and to evaluate the difference in postoperative pain between the SP-LS group and the conventional-LS group based on whether a hysterectomy was performed.
We performed a prospective case-control study among women who underwent SP-LS (n=116) and conventional-LS (n=283) for benign gynecologic disease. We evaluated postoperative pain with a visual analog scale for pain score and the requirement for additional analgesics at 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after surgery.
The pain score was significantly lower in the SP-LS group compared with the conventional-LS group only at 2 hours after surgery (5.70 ± 2.33 compared with 6.38 ± 2.13, P=.005). However, at all assessment times (2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours) after surgery including a hysterectomy (n=188) and all assessment times except 2 hours after surgery that did not include a hysterectomy (n=211), there were no differences in pain score when comparing the SP-LS or conventional-LS groups.
Single-port laparoscopy had no effect on postoperative pain except in the immediate postoperative state (2 hours following surgery) in women who underwent surgery that did not include a hysterectomy.