Endobag use in laparoscopic gynecological surgeries: a systematic review

Purpose The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the characteristics of endobags present in the market, the weight of specimen removed, complications of the operations and time required for in-bag morcellation in women undergoing laparoscopic gynecologic surgeries. Material and methods We performed a systematic review, including prospective and retrospective studies, with or without randomized allocation of the patients, using endobags in laparoscopic gynecologic surgeries. We extracted data about study design, type and price of bag used, type of surgical procedure, specimen weight, mean time for morcellation and for total surgical procedure, complications. Results We included 11 studies, including a total of 1160 patients, in which the investigators used MorSafe, Endocatch II autosuture, More-Cell-Safe, Endocatch, EcoSac and LapBag. A wide range of specimens were morcellated with the largest successfully morcellated specimen weighing 2314 gr. Only half of the studies comparing uncontained and contained morcellation found a significant increase of total operative time. Finally, the number of complications was not increased when endobag was used. Conclusion According to our systematic review, in-bag (contained) morcellation can be considered as a safe and unexpensive option, associated with a very low number of complications, even with large specimens.