Laparoscopic approach to adrenal and endocrine pancreatic tumors

The adrenal gland lends itself to laparoscopic removal because it is small, and adrenal tumors are most often benign. Similarly most endocrine tumors of the pancreas are small and benign, or are slow-growing malignancies that permit removal by enucleation or distal pancreatectomy by laparoscopy. Lap aroscopic adrenalectomy, though requiring advanced laparoscopic surgical sk ills, has become the procedure of choice for benign adrenal lesions because it results in less pain, a shorter hospital stay, comparable safety, and m ore patient satisfaction. The laparoscopic approach to pancreatic endocrine tumors, however, does not as yet have clearly established benefits over th e open approach, and should be considered primarily investigational at this point.