The value of laparoscopy in the diagnosis and therapy of violin-stringlike perihepatic nonpostoperative adhesions

Abstract

We report three cases of Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome (FHCs) that were diagnosed laparoscopically and showed microbiological or serological evidence of chlamydial infection. The case histories underscore the part played by abdominal right quadrant symptoms. In all three cases, right quadrant pain and tenderness constituted the presenting features. The patients were thought to have acute cholecystitis or acute appendicitis, but investigations proved negative. Laparoscopy was the key to the diagnosis, revealing the violin-string-like perihepatic adhesions typical of this syndrome. Lysis of the adhesions resolved the patients’ symptoms of persistent severe abdominal pain. In the first case, the pain lessend dramatically only after the third operation, when the perihepatic adhesions were lysed. In the two other cases, the lysis was performed laparoscopically by fulguration and cutting. We consider this procedure to be an excellent therapeutic modality for the pain associated with FHCs.