Does Single-Port Laparoscopic Surgery Reduce Postoperative Pain in Women with Benign Gynecologic Disease?

Abstract

Background: Reduced postoperative pain, one of the potential benefits of single-port laparoscopic surgery (SPLS), has clinically significant importance. The objectives of this study are to compare postoperative pain between SP-LS and conventional laparoscopic surgery (conventional-LS) and to evaluate the difference in postoperative pain between the SP-LS group and the conventional-LS group based on whether a hysterectomy was performed. Subjects and Methods: We performed a prospective case-control study among women who underwent SP-LS (n = 116) and conventional-LS (n = 283) for benign gynecologic disease. We evaluated postoperative pain with a visual analog scale for pain score and the requirement for additional analgesics at 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after surgery. Results: The pain score was significantly lower in the SP-LS group compared with the conventional-LS group only at 2 hours after surgery (5.70 +/- 2.33 compared with 6.38 +/- 2.13, P =.005). However, at all assessment times (2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours) after surgery including a hysterectomy (n = 188) and all assessment times except 2 hours after surgery that did not include a hysterectomy (n = 211), there were no differences in pain score when comparing the SP-LS or conventional-LS groups. Conclusions: Single-port laparoscopy had no effect on postoperative pain except in the immediate postoperative state (2 hours following surgery) in women who underwent surgery that did not include a hysterectomy.