Study to evaluate the role of Laparoscopy in chronic Abdominal Pain

Background: Patients with chronic abdominal pain can undergo numerous diagnostic tests with little change in their pain. This study was under taken to assess the efficacy of performing diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy in patients with chronic abdominal pain for longer than 3 months Methods: All patients undergoing laparoscopy for chronic abdominal pain were included in the study from Nov. 2008 to Oct. 2009. The patient’s demographic data, duration of pain, diagnostic studies, intraoperative findings, interventions and follow-up were determined. Results: A total of 25 patients (19 women and 6 men) with an average age of 34.64yrs underwent diagnostic laparoscopy for the evaluation and treatment of chronic abdominal pain. Average duration of pain was 32.96 weeks. Findings included abdominal Koch's in 9, appendicitis in 8, cholecystitis in 1, cirrhosis in1, ovarian cyst in 1, bilateral fimbrial cyst in 1 and 4 patients had no obvious pathology. 82.6% of patients had pain relief at the time of follow up. Conclusion: laparoscopy has a diagnostic and therapeutic role in patients with chronic pain abdomen.