Why The Recent Explosion in Laparoscopy?
With the first one being done in humans in the first decade of the 20th century in Germany, laparoscopy is not new a procedure. It was not until after the Second World War that laparoscopy became popular, when it was widely used in France for laparoscopic sterilization. The first book on laparoscopy published in English was only in 1967 by Patrick Steptoe,12 who later became famous for having the first successful in-vitro fertilization pregnancy. Furthermore, the first American book on laparoscopy was not published until 1970 by Melvin Cohen of Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago.13 In the 1980s, however, several events rapidly propelled laparoscopy forward. 1.TELEVISION CAME TO SURGERY. The television industry developed cameras that became suitable for laparoscopy. Miniaturization through the use of a silicon chip was combined with greater light sensitivity. These developments led to the adoption of television in surgery, first as an operative recording device and then as a monitor for
