ABSTRACT
The modern age of laparoscopic surgery was ushered in with the incorporation of a miniature video camera attached to the eyepiece of a laparoscope, allowing multiple assistants to view the operative field from the same vantage point. I Gynecologic laparoscopic surgery has been routinely performed since the 1970s. In 1987, Phillipe Mouret described the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy in France; the first series was reported by Perissat et al.,' and the technique was introduced into the USA in 1988 by Reddick and Olsen.' Improved instrumentation allowed laparoscopic cholecystectomy to revolutionize upper abdominal surgery in the 1990s. Currently, laparoscopic gastroesophageal, hepatobiliary, colorectal, solid-organ renal/splenic procedures, and herniorrhaphy are routinely performed via minimal access techniques.
