Postchemotherapy staging laparotomy in Hodgkin's disease.

Seventeen patients with Hodgkin's disease who had a staging laparotomy (SL) within 2 months of the completion of initial chemotherapy are presented. Only 1 patient had a positive laparotomy. Postchemotherapy SL allows any residual active disease to be assessed, but the incidence of positive finding may be small, and such findings are unlikely to alter subsequent management. SL following chemotherapy is therefore not recommended either for patients in clinical remission or for patients with evidence of relapsed disease.