The role of laparoscopy in the diagnosis of ascites of unknown etiology

Abstract

Objective We aimed to analyze the effect of diagnostic laparoscopy in the identification of the cause of ascites that had been failed to be known by all other diagnostic procedures. Patients and methods This study included 20 patients with an ascites of unknown cause. Before diagnostic laparoscopy, all patients underwent clinical, laboratory, and radiological evaluations; however, all these tools failed to identify the actual cause of this abnormal free fluid collection in the abdominal cavity. Data collection and statistically analysis were done. Results The cause of ascites was identified in 18/20 of our patients, with an accuracy of 90%. Overall, 40% of ascites in our study were owing to tuberculosis, whereas malignancy was the cause of ascites in 20% of patients, and liver cirrhosis and peritonitis were the cause in 15% of each. Conclusion Laparoscopy can help in the safe and effective diagnosis of cases of ascites of unknown etiology.