Laparoscopy in pediatric urology: too much of a good thing?

Laparoscopy is still an evolving technique; its rightful place in pediatric urology has yet to be defined. Although both the first reported use of diagnostic laparoscopy in pediatric surgery and its initial use in pediatric urology were published in 1973, the field lay dormant until recently. Once operative laparoscopy was initiated with the report of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1987, a torrent of articles followed; many operative procedures in adult urology and subsequently in pediatric urology appeared. This article presents the advantages and the disadvantages of several of the more important and common possible indications for laparoscopy in pediatric urology.