Laparoscopic Aortic Surgery

With the success of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in decreasing postoperative pain, morbidity, hospital stay and costs, there has been much interest in applying minimally invasive techniques to other fields. Although endovascular stenting first emerged as a minimally invasive approach to vascular surgery, laparoscopic aortic surgery for both occlusive and aneurysmal disease has only recently been developed. Although technical feasibility has been demonstrated in animal and human studies, several issues still need to be resolved. These include the optimal surgical approach to the aorta, methods of maintaining a working cavity, technical issues specifically related to aortic surgery, and documentation of the exact benefits for patients. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature on laparoscopic aortic surgery and discuss them in the context of the above issues.