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©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jan 27, 2017; 9(1): 13-18
Published online Jan 27, 2017. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v9.i1.13
Published online Jan 27, 2017. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v9.i1.13
Practice, training and safety of laparoscopic surgery in low and middle-income countries
Maryam Alfa-Wali, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals, Wrythe Lane SM5 1AA, United Kingdom
Samuel Osaghae, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria
Author contributions: Alfa-Wali M contributed to concept and design of review article, and performed and analysed data; Alfa-Wali M and Osaghae S contributed to literature review, writing and reviewing of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Maryam Alfa-Wali, Epsom and St Helier University Hospital, Wrythe Lane SM5 1AA, United Kingdom. malfa5@icloud.com
Telephone: +44-208-2962000 Fax: +44-137-2735048
Received: March 31, 2016
Peer-review started: April 6, 2016
First decision: June 6, 2016
Revised: October 19, 2016
Accepted: November 1, 2016
Article in press: November 3, 2016
Published online: January 27, 2017
Peer-review started: April 6, 2016
First decision: June 6, 2016
Revised: October 19, 2016
Accepted: November 1, 2016
Article in press: November 3, 2016
Published online: January 27, 2017
Core Tip
Core tip: The rate of laparoscopic surgery in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is gradually increasing. In this review we highlight the practice of laparoscopic surgery in LMICs from diagnostic procedures to complex resections. Training in laparoscopic surgery is inherently variable in LMICs, however innovative teaching methods with inexpensive materials have been developed. Safety data on laparoscopic surgery in LMICs is minimal and more research needs to be done. It is essential to establish safe practices that must be contextualized to serve the population in various LMICs.