Long-term outcome, adhesions, and quality of life after laparoscopic and open surgical therapies for acute abdomen: follow-up of a prospective trial.

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to determine the long-term outcome of laparoscopic and open therapies for acute abdomen, and to assess the patients postoperative quality of life, with special attention to adhesions.

METHODS

A follow-up study was conducted from June through December 2001 of a case-control trial of laparoscopic and open surgical treatment in patients with acute abdomen. Mean (median) duration of follow-up was 35.9 months (32.5) for the laparoscopic group (L) and 40.7 months (38.5) for the open group (O). A total of 284 (92%) of the original 310 study patients (108 L and 202 O) were contacted. Twenty-eight (9%) were confirmed to be dead. From the remaining 256 patients (131 men and 125 women, mean age [+/- SD] 38.9 +/- 19.9 years), we enrolled 153(67 L and 91 O) in the follow-up. The main outcome measures were frequency of relapse requiring treatment, frequency of reoperations, incidence of adhesion ileus and incisional hernia, distant morbidity and mortality, satisfaction with therapy, and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GQLI) scores.

RESULTS

The morbidity and mortality rates, readmission rates, incisional hernia rates, and scores for long-term quality of life were the same in both groups. The reoperation rate was significantly higher among L patients, but there were significantly fewer episodes of adhesion ileus in this group. Patient satisfaction was 85% in the L group and 73% in the O group (p = NS).

CONCLUSIONS

The laparoscopic treatment of patients with acute abdomen offers an outcome comparable to that achieved with the open approach. There were fewer episodes of adhesion ileus in laparoscopic patients. Consequently, the operative treatment of acute abdomen patients by laparoscopy can be recommended.