Operative culdolaparoscopy: a new approach combining operative culdoscopy and minilaparoscopy.

The tendency is to use small cannulas for operative laparoscopy; however, working with these cannulas may have technical limitations. We developed a technique for performing appendectomy combining culdoscopy and minilaparoscopy. It uses 3- or 5-mm abdominal cannulas, and the large 10- or 12-mm cannula is inserted into the posterior vaginal fornix under laparoscopic surveillance. The vaginal port is used to introduce operative instruments and extract specimens, and for vision. Culdolaparoscopy avoids additional or large abdominal ports, thus overcoming limitations of small cannulas.

Laparoscopic leash: a simple technique to prevent specimen loss during operative laparoscopy.

BACKGROUND: Surgical specimens can be lost in the peritoneal cavity during operative laparoscopy. Although specimens left might cause no complications, peritonitis and adhesion formation have been reported, requiring subsequent laparoscopy or laparotomy. We report a simple technique to prevent loss of surgical specimens during laparoscopy. TECHNIQUE: A suture is placed through the specimen, and the trocar sleeve is removed. Free ends of the suture are held with a clamp outside the abdomen while the port is reinserted into the abdomen. The suture is pulled to see the specimen when necessary. When morcellation is required, the leashed area of the specimen is the last to be extracted. This procedure takes less than 2 minutes. EXPERIENCE: We have used this technique for longer than 1 year for 18 myomectomies and seven bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies. No specimens were lost in the peritoneal cavity, and there were no complications related to the procedure. CONCLUSION: The laparoscopic leash is a simple and reproducible preventive technique that adds insignificant time to operations but saves much time that might be wasted localizing a misplaced specimen.

Oolemma characteristics in relation to survival and fertilization patterns of oocytes treated by intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

The aim of this study was to analyse the various reactions displayed by the oolemma to the penetrating pipette during intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and correlate them with clinical factors, oocyte survival and fertilization patterns. Three types of oolemma responses were observed: normal breakage, when the injection needle created an invagination that ruptured at the approximate centre of the egg; sudden breakage, when the membrane broke without creating a funnel; and difficult breakage, when the membrane did not break or broke after several penetration attempts. A total of 2928 oocytes were analysed with the following observations: 73.9% (n = 2164) experienced normal breakage, 11.8% (n = 345) sudden breakage, and 14. 3% (n = 419) difficult breakage. The survival rate and number of normally fertilized oocytes were significantly lower and the incidence of digynic oocytes was significantly higher in the sudden breakage group; furthermore, in this group a significantly shorter length of stimulation was observed along with lower serum oestradiol concentrations when compared to oocytes experiencing normal and difficult breakage patterns. These recorded patterns were predictive of the survival and fertilization ability of the injected oocytes, as well as the incidence of digyny. The link between membrane behaviour and various clinical parameters appears to indicate a correlation between the modality of stimulation and oolemma characteristics.