Surgical treatment for abdominal neuroblastoma in the laparoscopic era

Background: The role of laparoscopy in children with cancer has not been fu lly defined. The aims of this study were to develop an optimal surgical pro cedure for the treatment of abdominal neuroblastoma in the laparoscopic era and to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of laparoscopy in the ped iatric population. Methods: Since July 1997, 37 children were diagnosed with abdominal neurobl astoma at our center, and 44 surgical procedures were performed on them. Pa tients with advanced neuroblastoma underwent laparoscopic biopsy, open biop sy, and delayed primary or second-look excision, whereas early neuroblastom a cases had either laparoscopic or open excision, We compared the length of the operation, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay, complic ations, and time to start postoperative feeding and chemotherapy for the la paroscopic and open surgery groups. Results: Length of stay and time to postoperative feeding and chemotherapy were significantly lower in the laparoscopic group than the open surgery gr oup. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in length of operation and intraoperative blood loss. Conclusion: Laparoscopic biopsy and excision of abdominal neuroblastoma are effective and efficient surgical procedures in children.