Comparison of Laparoscopy versus Laparotomy for the Surgical Treatment of Benign Ovarian Masses

Ovarian masses are one of the most common diseases in women of reproductive age. They are usually benign and surgery is necessary if they are getting large or symptomatic. Two methods of laparoscopic surgery and laparotomy are used for treatment of ovarian masses. Nowadays، there is belief that the laparoscopy procedure has some advantages in compare with laparotomy. The purpose of this study was to compare laparoscopy versus laparotomy for surgical treatment of benign ovarian masses. This historical cohort study was conducted on 50 women with benign ovarian masses who underwent laparoscopy and 50 women who underwent laparotomy during 2006-2010 by the same gynecologist in Amir Almomenin hospital of Semnan، Iran. Data were gathered by a check list separately for each patient using hospital records and a check list from surgeon''s office records that contained a two year follow-up of recurrence rate and re-intervention rate of masses. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16، Kolmogorov–Smirnov، t-test، Mann-Whitney، Chi-square and Fisher exact tests. P value less than 0. 05 was considered significant. The mean duration of hospital stay after surgery (p<0. 001) and the mean number of dose of postoperative analgesic (p=0. 001) were significantly lower in the laparoscopy group than laparotomy group (p<0. 001). There were no significant differences between two groups regarding the duration of surgery (p=0. 079)، rate of blood transfusion (p=0. 117)، postoperative complications such as nausea and vomiting (p=0. 372) and the incidence of fever in the first 24 hours after surgery (p=0. 678). Sonographic evidence of recurrence (p=0. 445) and re-intervention rate performed within 2 years (p=0. 392) were not significantly different between two groups. Laparoscopic treatment of benign ovarian masses seems to have potential benefits includes shorter hospital stay after the surgery، less pain and less dose of postoperative analgesic. Also there is no difference between laparoscopy and laparotomy in recurrence and re-intervention rates of the same ovarian mass after 2 years.