Clinical Usefulness of a Self-Retaining Internal Organ Retractor for Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Adrenalectomy

Although laparoendoscopic single-site adrenalectomy (LESS-A) is feasible, it is still considered as a challenging procedure because of technical limitations. Making an optimal retraction is one of major obstacles in LESS-A, and it sometimes requires additional ports or needlescopic devices. Internal organ retractor (IOR) is a novel retraction device that is applied intracorporeally without additional port. In this study, we investigated the clinical usefulness of IOR in LESS-A.

Medical records of 73 consecutive patients who underwent LESS-A from March 2009 to December 2014 were reviewed. Twenty-two patients underwent LESS-A with IOR and 51 patients without IOR.

Mean age, body mass index, tumor size, operation time, estimated blood loss, and hospital stay were not significantly different between two groups. In IOR group, median number of applied IOR was 2.0 (1.0-3.0) per single operation. Mean time for application and removal was 80.0 and 46.5 seconds for a single IOR, respectively. There were no complications related to the IOR. In without IOR group, there were nine cases that needed needlescopic trocars, six cases that needed 5 mm or larger trocars, and one case that was converted to hand-assisted laparoscopy. However, we did not use any needlescopic instrument or additional trocar in IOR group. There was no case of open conversion in both groups.

LESS-A could be done effectively and safely using IOR. IOR system maintained optimal retraction throughout the operation. Its application and removal are intuitive and take only a few minutes. We think IOR system is an attractive retraction method in LESS-A.