notes: present and future – a brief review

The evolution of minimally invasive surgery has resulted in improvedsurgical outcomes, such as faster wound healing, better cosmeticresults and early hospital discharge. Natural orifice transluminalendoscopic surgery (NOTES) is an alternative to laparoscopy withthe advantage of eliminating abdominal incisions since it combinesendoscopic and laparoscopic techniques that access the abdominalcavity through natural orifices. Although it is a developing technique, many advantages have already been attributed to NOTES, such as lower incidence of hernia, wound infection and adhesions. Indications and contraindications will arise in parallel to the development of this technique and are subject to scrutiny. In this article, the authors review the current status of NOTES as well as its perspectives for the future.