Does single-port laparoscopic surgery reduce postoperative pain in women with benign gynecologic disease?

BACKGROUND: Reduced postoperative pain, one of the potential benefits of single-port laparoscopic surgery (SP-LS), 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.