Alternative laparoscopic technique for cholecystectomy during pregnancy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy had been considered contraindicated during pregnancy. A few brief clinical reports have appeared in the literature, but no trials attesting to the safety to the fetus (and mother) have been published. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy during pregnancy has advantages for the mother in that it speeds her recovery, giving her less pain, and decreasing the chance of incisional hernias from large incisions. Using an open, Hasson technique combined with low-pressure pneumoperitoneum via an "abdominal wall lift," safety to the fetus is enhanced. Herein is described a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a 14-week-pregnant woman under continuous epidural anesthesia and wearing sequential-compression-device hose; no untoward events occurred.