Peritoneal dialysis is an established alternative method for the management of patients with end-stage renal disease. Recently, laparoscopy has been utilized in assisting the insertion of catheters under direct vision. The efficacy of the laparoscopic approach for patients with a history of abdominal surgery remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate laparoscopy in the placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters for selected patients with previous abdominal operation. Laparoscopic assisted placement of peritoneal dialysis catheters was performed in 20 patients, who were carefully selected preoperatively and who also underwent previous abdominal operation between April 1999 and July 2001. Previous abdominal operation included appendectomy, ovarian resection, hysterectomy, cesarean section, open cholecystectomy, segmental resection of the small intestine, and truncal vagotomy with pyloroplasty. The procedure was performed using two 10-mm and one 5-mm abdominal trocar. All of the patients tolerated this procedure without significant surgical complications. However, 3 patients developed temporary hemoperitoneum, and 1 patient developed dialysate leakage. The overall success rate of catheter function (> 30 days after laparoscopy) was 90%, except in 2 cases where the catheter functioned poorly due to severe intra-abdominal adhesions. Simultaneous laparoscopic adhesiolysis was successfully performed in 5 cases. Laparoscopic implantation of peritoneal dialysis catheters appears to be a straightforward procedure, even for patients with previous abdominal operation. We believe that this technique may extend the application of peritoneal dialysis treatment in patients with previous abdominal surgery after discreet evaluation preoperatively.