A Study in Patients of Laparoscopic Median Arcuate Ligament Release

AIM- To study pre-operative and post-operative management of patients of laparoscopic median arcuate ligament release METHOD- A study of 10 patients presented in surgical OPD of tertiary care hospital of radiologically proven median arcuate ligament syndrome over a period of 12 months. Patients requiring surgery were selected for the study. All the patients underwent laparoscopic Median arcuate ligament release. Post-operatively celiac artery doppler was done in all the patients. Asymptomatic patients and those undergoing open surgery for median arcuate ligament release were excluded from the study. RESULTS- Median arcuate ligament syndrome presents most commonly between 3rd and 5 th decades with male preponderance. Commonly presenting with epigastric pain or postprandial fullness. Radiological investigations are pivotal in the diagnosis and post-operative assessment. Laparoscopic median arcuate ligament release is an extremely effective surgery having substantial reduction in symptoms post operatively. CONCLUSION- Laparoscopic release of median arcuate ligament was found to be effective in substantially reducing the symptoms most commonly chronic abdominal pain ofthe patients of median arcuate ligament syndrome with short post-operative stay. Radiological investigations prove useful in diagnosis and post-operative evaluation. Early surgical intervention significantly improves the symptoms and prevents future complications including intestinal ischemia and need for emergency laparotomy surgeries. There is significant improvement in post operative blood flow based on post-operative investigations such as celiac artery doppler studies done on post operative day 1. KEYWORDS- Median arcuate ligament syndrome, Laparoscopic release of median arcuate ligament,Chronic abdominal pain