Single-Incision Retroperitoneoscopic Adrenalectomy and Single-Incision Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy

Objective: Single-incision surgery is by now practicable in many fields of surgery, including surgery of the adrenal gland. We report on first experience with laparoscopic transperitoneal and retroperitoneoscopic single-incision adrenalectomy. Patients and Methods: Between September 2009 and February 2010, eight patients underwent single-incision adrenalectomy. Four patients received single-incision retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy, and four patients transperitoneal single-incision laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Technical feasibility and perioperative data are presented. Results: All patients had benign adrenal tumors (Conn's adenoma, n = 7; pheochromocytoma, n = 1). Tumor size ranged between 1.2 and 2.4 cm. Mean operation time was 76 minutes for single-incision retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy and 82 minutes for single-incision laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Blood loss was irrelevant in both groups. Conclusions: Single-incision adrenalectomy is safe and feasible in appropriate operation time, both by the retroperitoneoscopic technique and by the laparoscopic technique. It is also associated with good cosmetic outcome.