[Diagnosis and surgical therapy of primary retroperitoneal neurogenic tumors]

To explore the diagnosis and surgical therapy for retroperitoneal neurogenic tumors (PRNTs).

The clinical records of 79 surgically treated patients with retroperitoneal neurogenic tumor were retrospectively analyzed.

Twenty-nine patients presented with abdominal pain, 26 with abdominal mass, 15 with inferior extremities pain and numbness and 9 patients without clinical symptoms. Type B ultrasound (BUS), CT scan and surgical resection were performed for all the patients. Pathological analysis identified 19 patients with neurofibroma, 8 with neurilemmoma, 4 with paraganglioma, 21 with neurofibrosarcoma, 14 with malignant neurilemmoma, 6 with malignant paraganglioma, 5 with neuroectodermal tumor and 2 with neuroblastoma. The mortality rate of PRNT operation is was 1.3%, 3-year recurrence rate of benign tumor 0%, 5-year recurrence rate of benign tumor 12.9%, reoperation rate 100%, 5-year survival rate 100%. 3 years recurrence rate of malignancy tumor 41.6%, reoperation rate 90%, 5 years recurrence rate of malignancy tumor 79.1% and 5 years survival rate is 62.5%.

BUS, CT and MRI are decisive for localization diagnosis. Surgical resection is the mainstay of therapy for this disease. Pre-operative preparation of intestinal tract and blood, maintaining the intactness of involved nerve are important for tumor resection. To prevent tumor recurrence, the key surgical techniques are to minimize tumor residues and . to handle intervertebral foramen properly.