[Retrospective evaluations on the importance of laparoscopy in the differentiation of acute oedematous and acute hemorrhagic necrotising pancreatitis in the early stage of the disease (author's transl)].

Of 32 patients with acute pancreatitis on whom laparoscopy was performed within 3 days after the pain symptoms started, the type of inflammation could be assessed in 31 cases. Technically, the intervention did not cause any problems. In one case the examination had to be stopped prematurely due to hypotension, in another case the pain reaction led to premature discontinuance of the examination; other complications did not occur. The present experiences with this morphological diagnostic method have proven to be particularly useful for the indication regarding surgical interventions; it is, therefore, justifiable to compare the value of this method with that of noninvasive morphological methods (ultrasonography, and computer tomography).