Is Fear of Anaphylactic Shock Discouraging Surgeons from More Widely Adopting Percutaneous and Laparoscopic Techniques in the Treatment of Liver Hydatid Cyst?

Background: Sources of reports about laparoscopic and percutaneous treatment of liver hydatid cysts are limited to just a few countries. To address the reason behind this, we carried out a survey of 30 surgeons in northern Jordan.

Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to collect data regarding the surgical technique preferred by each surgeon. Further information was collected from those not adopting minimal-access techniques to determine their reasons for not doing so.

Results: Only 3 surgeons (10%) considered laparoscopy as the first line of treatment. Of the 27 surgeons who did not consider percutaneous or laparoscopic treatment, fear of anaphylaxis and/or dissemination was the main reason given by 21 surgeons (78%) for not using minimal access techniques.

Conclusions: The seemingly exaggerated traditional fear of anaphylaxis seems to discourage surgeons from more widely adopting minimal access techniques for the treatment of hydatid cyst.