PhD conferral Ms drs. Sofie A.F. Fransen

“Feasibility of single-port laparoscopy’’

The aim of this thesis was to examine the feasibility of single-port laparoscopy, in which surgeons use a single access port. All surgical instruments are inserted through this port. The use of specially-designed double-bended instruments was studied. The study results show that these instruments appear to provide benefits when performing precise tasks using a box trainer. Subjects without laparoscopic experience are able to learn the single-port technique just as quickly and accurately as subjects with laparoscopic experience. A survey of 205 randomly-chosen participants shows that there is much enthusiasm for the single-port technique, which can be used more quickly and accurately in robotic laparoscopy.  A review on postoperative complications following single-port laparoscopic gallbladder surgery shows that this technique is not associated with an increased risk of complications compared to traditional laparoscopy.