Hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery on a gigantic primary retroperitoneal mature cystic teratoma: A case report

Primary teratomas in the retroperitoneum are rare, incidentally identified in children, and resected using a laparoscopic approach. However, when it increases in size, the laparoscopic approach is technically demanding, leaving a large skin incision for tumor removal.

The patient was a 20-year-old woman who presented with chronic left flank pain. Abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) revealed a 25-cm wide giant polycystic and solid retroperitoneal tumor containing calcification located in the upper portion of the left kidney, strongly compressing the pancreas and spleen. No other metastatic lesions were observed. Additionally, abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that the polycystic tumor consisted of serous fluid and fatty components, and bone and tooth components were found in the tumor center. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with retroperitoneal mature teratoma and a hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery using bikini line skin incision was performed. The specimen was 27 × 25 cm in size, weighing 2512 g. Histology revealed that the tumor was a benign, mature teratoma without a malignant component. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 7. The patient remained healthy without any recurrence and the postoperative scar is barely visible under direct vision.

Primary retroperitoneal mature teratomas can enlarge without initially causing symptoms and can be incidentally identified using imaging studies.

A hand-assisted laparoscopic approach using a bikini line skin incision is safe, minimally invasive, and provides better cosmesis.