• J H Crabtree and A Fishman.
• Department of Surgery, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, 9400 East Rosecrans Avenue, Bellflower, CA 90706, USA.
• Surg Endosc. 1999 Oct 1; 13 (10): 1035-9.

BackgroundHigh-risk patients may not be good candidates for laparoscopic surgery due to the metabolic consequences of transperitoneal absorption of insufflated CO(2) gas and the necessity of general anesthesia because CO(2) insufflation produces pain. Helium gas is metabolically inert and does not produce pain. Thus it permits an alternative approach to performing laparoscopic surgery in high-risk patients.MethodsLaparoscopic cholecystectomy, appendectomy, hernia repair, and peritoneal dialysis catheter procedures were performed under local or regional anesthesia in high-risk patients utilizing helium gas as the insufflation agent.ResultsTwenty-one patients underwent laparoscopic procedures under local or regional anesthesia. None of the procedures initiated under local-regional anesthesia required abandonment of the laparoscopic approach or conversion to general anesthesia. There were no operative or perioperative mortalities. Two incidences of pneumothorax occurred with extraperitoneal hernia repair; one required a tube thoracostomy.ConclusionsHelium gas should be considered the agent of choice for intraperitoneal insufflation in high-risk patients not only because helium avoids the metabolic consequences of CO(2) insufflation but also because it permits selected procedures to be performed under local-regional anesthesia. Helium may be contraindicated for laparoscopic procedures involving extraperitoneal insufflation due to the increased risk for pneumothoraces.

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