Staging Laparoscopy

Laparoscopy in combination with laparoscopic ultrasonography is a new staging procedure for tumors of the abdomen. Accurate staging also improves the treatment of several other tumor entities, such as pancreatic and gastric cancer, lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and liver malignancies. Laparoscopic staging helps prevent unnecessary laparotomies, provides much less trauma to the patient, gives maximum information on tumor spread, and enables palliative procedures to be performed during the staging procedure. This book discusses the pathophysiological aspects and risks of laparoscopic staging and provides detailed guidelines on the aims and techniques of laparoscopic staging.