One hundred and ten consecutive uncomplicated retroperitoneal videoscopic adrenalectomies--Polish multicentre study.
OBJECTIVE
The authors evaluate the effectiveness of videoscopic adrenalectomy (VA) for a variety of endocrine disorders.


METHODS
One hundred and ten consecutive videoscopic adrenalectomies performed from October 1995 till December 2000 were reviewed and followed up for adequacy of surgical treatment in 2 surgical departments. There were 79 females and 31 males included in the study. The mean age was 48.0 years (range 23-71 years). Indications for the operations were: phaeochromocytomas (n=5), aldosterone-producing adenomas (n=19), cortisol-producing adenomas (n=10), Cushing's disease (n=3) and non-secreting tumours (n=72).


RESULTS
There was no mortality and no morbidity both intraoperatively and in the postoperative course. In 8 cases conversion to open surgery was instituted - in 4 cases due to an unintended lesion of pertioneum without damage to the intraperitoneal organs. Mean operative time was 156 min (range 52-280 min), and estimated blood loss was 73 ml (range 20-300 ml). The average length of hospital stay was 2.9 days (range 2-7 days). None of the patients revealed either recurrence of hormonal hypersecretion or tumour mass in imaging studies during the follow-up period (range 1-34 months).


CONCLUSIONS
1. VA is recommended in patients with hormonally active tumours and in patients with benign adrenal masses of a diameter up to 6 cm. 2. VA is a safe and feasible procedure if performed by a team experienced in endocrine and endoscopic surgery. 3. VA is a procedure better than open adrenalectomy in management of small, non-malignant tumours because of the reduction of operative trauma.
Stanek
A
A
Department of General, Gastroenterological and Endocrinological Surgery of Medical University, 1 Kieturakis Str. Gdansk, PL-80-742, Poland.
Kowalczyk
M
M
Kaska
Ł
Ł
Lubikowski
J
J
Sworczak
K
K
Kwiecińska
B
B
Makarewicz
W
W
Łachiński
A
A
Stefaniak
T
T
Gruca
Z
Z
D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003480:Cushing Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020535:Video-Assisted Surgery