POSTERIOR OR LAPAROSCOPIC APPROACH FOR ADRENALECTOMY

BACKGROUND: The pathologies and size of adrenal lesions removed throug h the open posterior and laparoscopic routes shave remarkable similari ties. This study aims at comparing the relative merits of these two ap proaches, METHODS: Patients with adrenal turners operated on by poster ior approach (n = 56) and transabdominal laparoscopic approach (n = 12 ) between January 1981 and May 1997 were retrospectively reviewed. RES ULTS: The two groups were comparable in terms of age, and the position , size, and weight of the tumor. The operative time of posterior adren alectomy was significantly shorter than that of laparoscopic adrenalec tomy (median 120 minutes versus 160 minutes), whereas laparoscopic adr enalectomy was associated with less parenteral analgesic requirement ( median 0 mg versus 225 mg), a shorter hospital stay (median 3 days ver sus 5 days), and a shorter duration off work (median 11 days versus 26 days). The estimated blood loss was also significantly reduced in the laparoscopic group (median 50 mL versus 150 me). CONCLUSIONS: Laparos copic adrenalectomy to become the procedure of choice for the majority of patients undergoing adrenalectomy. (C) 1998 by Excerpta Medica, In c.