Operation duration and adrenal gland size, but not BMI, are correlated with complication rate for posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy for benign diseases.

BACKGROUND

We sought to determine whether obesity is correlated with complications after posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy for benign diseases and to develop surrogate markers of abdominal fat in preoperative computed tomography.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients who had undergone posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy and preoperative computed tomography between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2015. The cross-sectional components of fat assessed by computed tomography included total fat area, subcutaneous fat area, retroperitoneal fat area, and peritoneal fat area. The patients were grouped into 2 categories according to the absence or presence of a postoperative complication (the no-complications group and the complications group, respectively).

RESULTS

Of 116 study patients, 20 patients (17%) had a postoperative complication. Operations of greater duration and smaller adrenal gland size were significantly correlated with complications both in univariate and multivariate analyses. Body mass index, total fat area, subcutaneous fat area, retroperitoneal fat area, peritoneal fat area, and distance of skin to muscle (in axial and sagittal images) correlated with complications in univariate analysis but not in multivariate analysis. In the no-complications group, the removed adrenal gland was larger than that removed in the complications group (6 vs 4 cm, respectively, P = .001), whereas the complications group had a greater operative duration (139 vs 104 min, respectively, P = .001) and a greater duration of hospital stay (3 days vs 1 day, respectively, P = .001).

CONCLUSION

In this study, operations of greater duration and smaller adrenal gland size were better predictors of complications after posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy for benign disease than measures of obesity, including body mass index.