Anaesthesia for Laparoscopic Surgery in Urology

We provide urologists with an overview of the anaesthetic consequences of the physiological changes which occur during laparoscopic surgery. An understanding of these issues is important as increased awareness by surgeons of potential problems will improve communication and understanding within the surgical team and thus help to improve patient safety.The article considers the physiological effects of pneumoperitoneum, patient position, and gas absorption as well as anaesthetic management of the changes which occur.Laparoscopic surgery offers many advantages for the patient requiring surgical treatment of urinary tract disease and the potential metabolic changes which can occur as a result are far outweighed by the shortened hospital stay and recovery time which result from use of this surgical approach.