Purpose: To better establish the complication rate with the Veress needle technique for establishing a pneumoperitoneum in pediatric laparoscopy.
Patients and Methods: We reviewed all pediatric laparoscopy cases performed by a single surgeon from 1996 to 2003. There were 257 patients ranging in age from 4 months to 19 years. Infraumbilical placement of the Veress needle was used to create a pneumoperitoneum. All instances of preperitoneal insufflation, vessel/viscus injury, and forced conversion to open surgery were recorded. The length of time required to establish pneumoperitoneum was reported in the last 139 patients.
Results: The average length of time required to gain access to the peritoneum was <2 minutes. Of these procedures, 138 were performed for nonpalpable undescended testicles, 101 for varicoceles, 13 for duplication anomalies, and 5 for intersex disorders. There were 18 cases (7.0%) of preperitoneal insufflation. No cases resulted in vessel/visceral injury, conversion to open surgery, conversion to use of the Hassan trocar technique, or inability to complete the procedure because of complications in establishing a pneumoperitoneum. In all cases of preperitoneal insufflation, proper access was achieved by pulling the needle out and reinserting it at a different angle, with pneumoperitoneum being achieved easily in each case.
Conclusion: The use of the Veress needle to establish pneumoperitoneum in children of all ages is safe, fast, and efficacious.
