Laparoscopic excision of ovarian cysts:: is the stripping technique a tissue-sparing procedure?

Objective: To determine whether the stripping technique by laparoscopy is a tissue-sparing procedure. Design: Prospective study. Setting: University hospital. Patient(s): Forty-two women, 21 to 35 years of age, who had a unilateral ovarian cyst (26 endometriomas, 7 serous, 6 dermoid, and 3 mucinous cysts). Intervention(s): Laparoscopic excision of ovarian cysts by using the stripping technique. Main Outcome Measure(s): Histologic analysis of the excised specimens was done to evaluate the presence and nature of ovarian tissue adjacent to the cyst wall. Result(s): Recognizable ovarian tissue adjacent to the cyst wall was present in 15 of 42 excised specimens (36%). A significant difference was present for endometriomas versus nonendometriosis cysts (ovarian tissue was present in 14 of 26 specimens [54%] vs. 1 of 16 specimens [6%]; P<.005). No specimen showed the normal follicular pattern observed in healthy ovaries. Conclusion(s): The stripping technique appears to be a tissue-sparing procedure. In 36% of the cysts, ovarian tissue is excised together with the cyst wall, but this tissue does not show the morphologic characteristics observed in normal ovarian tissue. (C) 2002 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.