Pathological and clinical outcomes of adrenalectomy: A multi-center experience in Saudi Arabia

To determine the nature of adrenal pathology in patients undergoing adrenalectomy in Saudi Arabia over the last decade and compare it with the literature. We compared perioperative outcomes between minimally invasive adrenalectomy (MIA) and open adrenalectomy (OA).

This retrospective study included patients who underwent adrenalectomy at five tertiary care centers in Saudi Arabia from 2010 to 2020. We collected patients' baseline and perioperative characteristics and detailed hormonal evaluation of adrenal masses.

Among 160 patients (mean age 44 ± 14.5 years; mean BMI 29.17 ± 5.96 kg/m²), 84 (51.5 %) were men and 51.5 % had left-sided adrenal masses. The mean tumor size was 6.1 ± 4.2 (1.0-19.5) cm, including 60 (37.5 %) incidentalomas and 65 (40.6 %) functioning masses. Histopathology revealed 74 (46.2 %) adenomas and 24 (15 %) cancers or metastases from other primary organs; 20 %, 8.8 %, and 2.5 % of patients had pheochromocytoma, myelolipoma, and 2.5 % ganglioneuroblastoma, respectively. MIA and OA were performed in 135 (84.4 %) and 21 (15.6 %) patients, respectively. Adrenalectomy was increasingly performed over three equal periods in the last decade (17.5 % vs 34.4 % vs 48.1 %), with increasing numbers of MIAs to replace OAs. OA patients had larger tumors and needed blood transfusion more frequently (47.6 % vs 10.8 %, p< 0.001). MIA was significantly associated with shorter operative time, shorter length of stay, and less blood loss. Postoperative complications occurred in 10 (6.2 %) patients and were significantly higher for OA (24 % vs 3.0 %, p< 0.001).

The majority of adrenal masses are benign. Herein, the observed functional and perioperative outcomes were comparable to those of available meta-analyses.