Laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy in the staging of prostate cancer

Lymphadenectomy provides sufficiently accurate information for the efficient staging of prostatic carcinoma. This paper provides a step-by-step guide to laparoscopic lymphadenectomy, based on the authors' experiences. Clinical staging of patients with neoplastic node involvement was also documented. Laparoscopic lymphadenectomy was found to be a highly efficient method for nodal staging of pelvic neoplastic pathology, similar to that reported in conventional surgery. The mean number of nodes obtained per case was determined to be 11.2. Of the 35 cases in which laparoscopic lymphadenectomy was performed, node involvement was evident in 23%, all of whom were negative by computerized tomography scan. Laparoscopic lymphadenectomy was concluded to be a minimally invasive surgical procedure, associated with few complications and a short hospital stay.