LAPAROSCOPIC ADRENALECTOMY

Using the transperitoneal, laparoscopic approach, we performed 67 succ essful adrenalectomies between June 1993 and July 1995 at Greenslopes Hospital, Brisbane. There were 30 women and 37 men. Syndromes of prima ry adrenal hormone overproduction-primary aldosteronism (n = 52), pheo chromocytoma (n = 6), and hypercortisolism (n = 1)-were present in 59 patients and apparently nonfunctioning adrenal tumors (of which one wa s malignant) in 8 patients. There was a significant difference in the time of operation between patients weighing < 80 kg and those weighing > 80 kg. Operations on males were slower than those on females, possi bly explained by males being significantly heavier. Left-sided tumors outnumbered right-sided tumors; removal of right-sided adrenals took, on average, longer, but this difference was not significant.