Metabolic and oncological consequences of laparoscopic surgery

In 1986, Philip Mouret and his colleagues performed the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy. They initiated the most revolutionary change in traditional surgery, since the introduction of anaesthesia, asepsis, antibiotics and blood-transfusion. At the same time, industry propelled this development by constantly introducing superior and more sophisticated equipment, as well as by organizing training-courses. The use of pre-existing and/or non-existing openings in the human body for both diagnostic examination and therapy has always been a matter of technological feasibilities. Since endoscopic surgery has rapidly become a popular alternative of traditional surgery for a high number of interventions, numerous historical papers and commentaries have been published, in which many claimed to have been the first.