Treatment of ovarian dermoid cysts - Place and modalities of operative laparoscopy

The purpose of this study was to discuss the place and the specific modalities of laparoscopic surgery in the management of ovarian dermoid cysts. This retrospective and noncomparative study was carried out in 65 patients who presented dermoid ovarian cyst between January 1986 and December 1990 in our institution. The surgical treatment was performed purely by laparoscopy in 86.2% of the cases (56 patients). The modalities of laparoscopic surgery were as follows: ovariectomy (8 cases; 14.3%), transparietal cystectomy (4 cases; 7.1%) and intraperitoneal cystectomy (44 cases; 78.6%). In 15 cases (15/44=34%) the intraperitoneal cystectomy was carried out without opening the cyst and the intact cyst was extracted using an endoscopic impermeable sack. We observed no cases of chemical peritonitis. The risk of recurrence after conservative treatment is 4% (two patients) and out of the ten patients for whom a second-look laparoscopy was performed only two (20%) presented adhesions. Laparoscopic treatment of dermoid ovarian cysts is feasible, safe, and effective. The treatment can be conservative in over 80% of the cases. The specific risk of chemical peritonitis can be countered by a change in the cystectomy technique. The use of an impermeable laparoscopic sack permits extraction of the cyst without any peritoneal contamination.