The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the harmonic scalpel for laparoscopic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy in the management of gynaecologic cancers. A prospective study of 21 consecutive patients with gynaecologic cancer, including cervical (11), endometrial (3), ovarian (6) and tubal (1). Eleven patients had pelvic nodes retrieval only, two had para-aortic nodes retrieval only and eight had both. Eighteen patients had transperitoneal lymphadenectomies, one had extraperitoneal and two had both. Eleven patients had a hysterectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy in addition to the laparoscopic lymphadenectomy. In all cases, the harmonic scalpel was used as the only instrument to achieve haemostasis. Average nodal yields were 21.4 for bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomies. The mean estimated blood loss was 132.7 ml. There were no intraoperative complications. Laparoscopic pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy using the harmonic scalpel appears to be both safe and efficient in the management of patients with gynaecologic cancers. Its main advantage is that it enables simultaneous and safe tissue dissection, haemostasis and cutting, avoiding the exchange of several instruments. It could become the first choice instrument for this procedure.