Laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Comparison of the lateral and posterior approaches.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the lateral transabdominal and posterior retroperitoneal laparoscopic methods for performing adrenalectomy.

DESIGN

Nonrandomized.

SETTING

Hospitals affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco.

PATIENTS

Thirty-six patients (15 men and 21 women), aged 5 to 78 years (mean age, 49 years), were treated for the following conditions: aldosteronoma, 18 patients; pheochromocytoma, 4 patients; Cushing syndrome, 6 patients; androgen-secreting tumor, 1 patient; nonfunctioning adenoma, 3 patients; adrenal hemorrhage, 1 patient; metastatic neoplasm, 2 patients; and myelolipoma, 1 patient.

INTERVENTIONS

Twenty-three lateral and 14 posterior laparoscopic adrenalectomies.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Success rate, operating time, complications, and length of hospital stay.

RESULTS

The tumors, which ranged in size from 1 to 13 cm (mean, 4.2 cm; median, 2.5 cm), were all successfully resected laparoscopically. All 8 tumors larger than 6 cm were resected by the lateral approach. One critically ill patient died. No patient required blood transfusions or conversion to laparotomy. Mean operating time was 3.8 hours vs 3.4 hours (median, 3.5 hours vs 3 hours) and mean hospital stay was 2.2 days vs 1.5 days (median, 2 days vs 1 day) for the lateral and posterior approaches, respectively. All patients without concomitant procedures were ready to be discharged within 48 hours.

CONCLUSIONS

Both approaches were effective and safe. We prefer the lateral approach for tumors larger than 6 cm and the posterior approach for bilateral tumors.