What's the No. 1 benefit of using mini-lap?
Dr. Novitsky: About a decade ago, I worked on a study that compared
mini-lap with conventional laparoscopy, looking at blood loss, opera-
tive time, complications, early and late post-op incisional pain, and
cosmetic results. Both techniques performed about the same,
although we did see a small decrease in early post-op incisional pain
for mini-lap. Its main advantage, though, was superior cosmetic out-
comes.
Dr. Curcillo: When I put a 3 mm instrument through the skin and take it
out, I don't have to stitch it up. I don't even have to put a Band-Aid on it.
Patients really like that it's less traumatic and causes less scarring. But
as far as a faster recovery or superior outcomes, there just isn't enough
evidence to support that yet.
Dr. Reardon: The few studies out there seem to suggest that mini-lap
patients have less pain, a lower use of narcotics and return to normal
activities sooner than those who undergo conventional surgery, but
the evidence is limited. The scarring is the most obvious benefit.
Sometimes my 2 mm patients will come back and I can't even find the
scars. When the field moved from open surgery to laparoscopy, it was
a big jump and the benefits were clear. This progression is smaller, so
it's harder to see the distinctions, though anything less invasive is bet-
ter for the patient.
How do mini-lap instruments compare to conventional ones?
Dr. Curcillo: The handles are easy to use — in fact our mini-lap handles
are the same as our 5 mm ones. It's more about the shaft and the tip.
The mini instruments aren't as robust as the 5 mm ones. It's hard for
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