Laparoscopic adrenalectomy: alternative or new standard?

Laparoscopy has become a standard approach for adrenalectomy because of its safety, low invasiveness, and less demanding technical nature and the readily removable size of tumor through trocar incision. Comparative studies between open and laparoscopic adrenalectomy document less blood loss, shorter hospital stay, and lower incidence of complication. These reports also show that the patients have less pain, use fewer narcotics postoperatively, and have quicker resumption of oral intake after surgery with the laparoscopic approach. The techniques for laparoscopic adrenalectomy started with the transperitoneal approach and developed into the retroperitoneal approach. Further technical development and recognition yielded three transperitoneal and two retroperitoneal approaches. Characteristics of each approach are discussed. Due to technical developments and experiences in laparoscopic surgery, application of the laparoscopic approach has been expanded to include excision for adrenal cancer and laparoscopic partial adrenalectomy for bilateral pheochromocytoma in certain cases and in selected institutes.