Laparoscopy and combined methods

Abstract

Laparoscopic surgery has now come of age, as reflected by a substantial number of presentations at Digestive Disease Week with long-term follow-up of large series and quality-of-life studies in antireflux surgery, bariatric surgery, and colorectal surgery. Only a few studies dealt with new technology, such as robot-assisted surgery. Only a few studies were randomized, as has been the general pattern during the implementation of laparoscopic surgery in gastrointestinal diseases in the last two decades. Most of the papers (85 %) were submitted to the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract and 12 % to the American Gastroenterological Association.