Laparoscopic management of ovarian dermoid cysts: a review of 47 cases

Mature cystic teratomas, often referred to as dermoid cysts, are the most common germ cell tumors of the ovary in the recent years, transvaginal sonographic diagnosis of ovarian dermoid cysts together with the laparascopic approach have greatly improved the treatment of this benign lesion. We retrospectively reviewed the outcome of laparoscopic surgery for suspected ovarian dermoid cysts. The preoperative findings, operative techniques, and postoperative complications were retrospectively reviewed in the women who underwent lpaparoscopic surgey for dermoid cysts, between January 2001 and May 2003. In 47 women aged 21 to 53 years (median, 38.8 years), 93.6% had a unilateral cyst with a diameter of 17 to 108 mm (median 51 mm). Clinical presentations were pain (62%), abnormal vaginal bleeding (21%) and ovarian torsion (2%), while 17%were diagnosed incidently during routine examination. Surgery included cystectomy (57%), total (36%) or partial oophorectomy (6.4%) and laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (2%). During the cyst extraction, minimal spillage occured in 42.5% of the casesand none developed chemical peritonitis. In 2 patients, conversion to laparotomy (4.3%) was required, one for sigmoid colon, injury and one for malignent ovarian tumor detected via frozen section. The median operating time was 80 minutes (range, 35-180 minutes). Using strict afherence to guidelines for preoperative clinical assessment and intraoperative management, laparoscopic treatment of dermoid cysts appers to be a safe procedure. (author)