Surgical management of primary aldosteronism

Adenoma is usually the etiology of primary aldosteronism, and we have also encountered 44 patients with adenoma since 1990. In this study. we examined surgical management of these patients. Conventional open surgery (supracostal flank incision) was performed in ten patients, and laparoscopic surgery in 34 patients. When these two techniques were compared, the time required for laparoscopic surgery was significantly longer, although it tended to be considerably shortened in the last ten patients compared with that in the initial patients. However, regarding all the parameters of recovery in the last ten patients, laparoscopic surgery was superior to open surgery. Laparoscopic surgery seems to be the most appropriate surgery for patients with adrenal adenoma, which comprise the majority of patients with this disease.