INTRODUCTION: The laparoscopic approach to the adrenal gland was first reported in 1992. Since then, many publications about this issue have come from Europe, Japan and North America. We reviewed our 10-year experience with laparoscopic adrenal surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy was carried out in 113 patients, 77 females and 36 males, between January 1994 and January 2004. The age ranged from 1 to 76 years (43.1 ± 16.2 years). Ten (8.8%) patients were 20 years old or younger, 19 (16.8%) patients had unilateral tumor larger than 4cm, 25 (22.1%) patients had Body Mass Index > 30kg/m², and 13 (11.5%) had had previous open upper abdominal surgery. The size of the lesion ranged from 1 to 9cm (3.3 ± 1.6cm). One hundred and sixteen operations were performed, of which 109 were unilateral and 7 were bilateral, adding up to a total of 123 adrenalectomies. Among the 116 procedures, the lateral transperitoneal approach was employed in 113 cases, whereas lateral retroperitoneal approach enabled 3 adrenalectomies. RESULTS: Unilateral procedures lasted 107 ± 33.7 min (45-250 min); bilateral procedures lasted 180 ± 90.6 min (100-345 min); 5 (4.3%) cases were converted to open surgery. Twenty (17.7%) patients suffered complications, being 8 (7.0%) intraoperative and 12 (10.6%) postoperative complications. Six (5.3%) cases were considered major complications. No deaths occurred due to the surgical procedures. Blood transfusion rate was 3.5%. Hospital stay was 5.7 ± 15.0 days (1-140 days). Follow-up period was 23 ± 12.8 months (1-60 months) and all these patients were followed for a minimum of 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is feasible and has excellent results in selected patients.
Adrenal glands; Laparoscopy; Adrenalectomy
