SAN FRANCISCO, April 15 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say a new study shows laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of nosocomial infections by 52 percent when compared with open surgery.
Ethicon End-Surgery Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, conducted a retrospective study of more than 11,000 patients undergoing one of three surgical procedures: hysterectomy, cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and appendectomy. The researchers said they found laparoscopic surgery was associated with reduction of the risk of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections during gallbladder removal by 66 percent, and during hysterectomy by 52 percent compared with open surgery.
The study showed the reduction rates of nosocomial infections during laparoscopic appendectomy were not statistically significant.
"This study gives more definitive evidence that laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of nosocomial infection compared to open surgery, which may lead to improved patient care and potential reductions in costs to the healthcare system, " said Dr. Andrew Brill, director of minimally invasive gynecology at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, one of the lead investigators of the study.
The research appears in the journal Surgical Endoscopy.
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