Abstract
Since January 1996 laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) has been peformed on 21 children in whom appendicitis could not be confirmed by preoperative diagnosis by conventional methods. The patients included 13 males and 8 females, ranging from 6 to 15 years old. We performed LA with the same trocar for children as that for adults by the three-puncture method. The laparoscopic diagnoses were phlegmonous appeddicitis in 11 children and catarrhal in 10. The operation time was 12_??_42 (mean 25.5) minutes. Only one presented a postoperative complication, subcutaneus hematoma due to trocar injury (Case 3). The advantages of LA include reduction of mental damage to children. LA provides not only benefits for surgeons but also several advantages for children. From our experience, LA might be extended more widely, probably to most cases of appendicitis in children.
