Surgical complications of neuroblastoma resection

Locally advanced neuroblastomas in infants and very young children often require intricate dissection to separate the tumors from the anatomic structures that they have enmeshed. The rationale for these procedures is based mainly on the premise that near-total resection is almost as effective as total extirpation, given favorable circumstances of age and stage. The principal reason for not undertaking or aborting such resections has been to avoid the fallacy of intentionally sacrificing vital structures, causing serious disability, in circumstances in which cure is either impossible or equally likely to accrue from a lesser procedure. This report describes five surgical mishaps, two of which resulted in postoperative deaths. The potential for these complications was greatest during resection of locally advanced tumors in small babies. We suspect that this hazard is more prevalent than its scarcity in the literature would suggest and that potential for unintended injury should be a prominent factor in the decision to proceed or desist with resection of a large neuroblastoma.