The short-term benefits of laparoscopy have been well documented over the past 20 years: less postoperative pain, quicker return to baseline function, and shorter hospital stays. This study by Angenete and colleagues1 suggests that the benefits of laparoscopy may extend beyond the immediate postoperative period. Using a robust national database of more than 100 000 patients who were followed up for up to 5 years or until death, the authors found that laparoscopy correlated highly with a reduced incidence of postoperative small-bowel obstruction (SBO) compared with open surgery. This relationship held true for numerous commonly performed procedures including cholecystec-tomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, bowel resection, rec-topexy, and appendectomy. The reduction in SBO incidence remained for each of these procedures even after accounting for patient factors such as age, comorbid-ity, and previous surgery.
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