[Respective value of direct vision or optical lumboscopy]

The lumbar retroperitoneal space can be explored with 2 endoscopic procedures: direct lumboscopy with the Hald-type retroperitoneoscope and optical lumboscopy with a laparoscope inserted into the retroperitoneal space after CO2 insufflation. The latter procedure was tried without success due to the insufficient opening of the lumbar retroperitoneal space by the retropneumascos. On the contrary, direct lumboscopy was performed 44 times and yielded encouraging results as histological interpretation was possible for 40 samples (sensitivity 90%). This preliminary experiment seems to demonstrate the superiority of direct lumboscopy over optical lumboscopy, although the latter procedure theoretically has the advantage of a greater field of view.