Laparoscopic removal of a 103-pound ovarian tumor

The surgical removal of extremely large abdominopelvic masses is associated with a high perioperative complication rate related to massive physiologic and anatomic distortions. The judicious use of minimally invasive techniques in carefully selected patients may diminish the convalescent stresses inherent to laparotomy. We removed a 103-pound benign, ovarian mucinous cystadenoma from a 22-year-old woman by laparoscopy. We believe this is the largest such tumor removed by this method, and it raises several issues relevant to the intraoperative and perioperative management of such neoplasms. Systematic laparoscopic drainage and excision of extremely large, benign, abdominopelvic tumors is not only feasible, but is a reproducible, safe, low-morbidity alternative to initial laparotomy in the treatment of these rare lesions.