Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy for cancer

Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy is a rapidly emerging technique for the tr eatment of renal cell carcinoma. Surgeons at multiple institutions have rep orted excellent technical results with this procedure, with encouraging saf ety and efficacy data and low complication rates comparable with the rates of open radical nephrectomy. Although debate continues regarding the pros a nd cons of the transperitoneal versus retroperitoneal approach and regardin g morcellation versus intact specimen extraction, laparoscopic radical neph rectomy is beginning to approach standard-of-care status at select institut ions for tumors less than 8 cm in size.