Role of Bedside Laparoscopy

Diagnostic laparoscopy is most often performed in the operating room (OR) but may also be utilized at the bedside, in the emergency room (ER), or in the intensive care unit (ICU). Bedside laparoscopy is helpful for patients who cannot be reliably examined, including those who are intubated, sedated, obtunded, or demented. Potential benefits include the ability to safely and quickly rule in/out pathology in a patient who is not a candidate for transfer to radiology or the OR. For patients who are not suitable for transfer to diagnostic radiology, laparoscopy is a safe and effective way to obtain diagnostic clarity in patients with possible intra-abdominal pathology and avoids the morbidity of a nontherapeutic laparotomy (Bender and Talamini, Surg Endosc, 6(6):302–4, 1992; Brandt et al., Surg Endosc, 7(3):168–72, 1993). Diagnostic laparoscopy is most often performed in the OR but may also be utilized bedside in the ER or the ICU.