[Is laparoscopic surgical practice "factual" (evidence based)? Results of a prospective regional survey].

Objective: Evidence-based medicine is a growing paradigm in health care. We conducted a prospective study to determine whether laparoscopic surgery is truly evidence-based in everyday practice.

Methods: A prospective regional survey was performed in 11 French hospitals (one university and 10 district hospitals) to ascertain how general laparoscopic surgery was conducted during the last 3 months of 1997.