title: Laparoscopic management of rare retroperitoneal tumors.
abstract: Due to their close proximity to major vessels, large size, variable location, and unknown malignant status, retroperitoneal tumors are frequently managed by open surgical exploration. Between 2005 and 2008, 4 patients with retroperitoneal tumors were subjected to laparoscopic management and there was success in 3 cases. Conversion to open resection was needed in 1 case because of bleeding. Mean laparoscopic operative time and blood loss were 154 minutes and 116 mL, respectively. The average hospital stay for the patients who were operated laparoscopically was 4 days. One patient had lymph drainage during the postoperative period and was treated conservatively. The histology reported retroperitoneal ganglioneuroma, retroperitoneal schwannoma, and retroperitoneal paraganglioma. There has been no tumor recurrence at a mean follow-up of 39 months. With advanced laparoscopic skills, better instrumentation, and vastly improved imaging, laparoscopic surgery is feasible even for rare retroperitoneal tumors, and in a selected group of patients it can be the first surgical option.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Disciplines, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. mcmisra@gmail.com
authors.forename: Mahesh C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Hemanga K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Bhattacharjee
authors.forename: Ashok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Hemal
authors.forename: Virender K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Bansal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005729:Ganglioneuroma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D012186:Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*