[Laparoscopic surgery during the second trimester of pregnancy: indications, technique, and fetal repercussions. Report of nine cases and review the literature].

Non-obstetric abdominopelvic surgery during pregnancy is associated with a considerable materno-foetal complication rate related to the delayed diagnostic and therapeutic management and the severity of the underlying disease. Based on retrospective analysis of 9 laparoscopies performed during the second trimester of pregnancy between the months of January 1994 and October 1996 in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department of Hospital Bichat, the authors study the feasibility of this technique. They report 9 cases of abdominopelvic disease, in which laparoscopy allowed a diagnostic and therapeutic approach: 6 cases of adnexal disease, 2 appendicular syndromes and one diagnostic laparoscopy. The maternal and obstetric course was favourable in each case. Several cases of laparoscopic appendicectomy, cholecystectomy, and adnexal surgery during pregnancy have been published since 1990. The main reasons theoretically contraindicating laparoscopy after the first trimester of pregnancy are the risk of uterine injury and the foetal risk during creation of the pneumoperitoneum. Experimental data are limited, but the increased intra-abdominal pressure and the use of CO2 do not appear to have any harmful effects in animals (foetal lambs). By respecting a certain number of technical precautions, laparoscopy during the second trimester of pregnancy can constitute a legitimate diagnostic and therapeutic approach.