Minilaparotomy staging pelvic lymphadenectomy follow-up: a safe alternative to standard and laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy.

Minilaparotomy pelvic lymphadenectomy (MINILAP), which utilizes a small 6-cm lower midline incision with the aid of standard retractors and instruments, was introduced in 1992 as an alternative to standard and laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy. Since that time, MINILAP has been popularized by the urology community to become the procedure of choice for pelvic lymphadenectomy in patients who are at high risk for lymph-node prostate-cancer metastasis. A total of 24 patients who underwent MINILAP were followed prospectively for the assessment of perioperative morbidity. For the 15 patients who had MINILAP alone the length of hospitalization was < 1 day and the postoperative analgesic requirement was < 10 tablets of oral pain medication. All patients resumed their normal activity within 3-5 days. No acute or late complication was observed. Hence, MINILAP appears to be a safe alternative to either laparoscopic or standard pelvic lymphadenectomy.