Major vascular injury in laparoscopic urology.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Major vascular injury is the most devastating complication of laparoscopy, occurring most commonly during the laparoscopic entry phase. Our goal is to report our experience with major vascular injury during laparoscopic entry with closed- and open-access techniques in urologic procedures. METHODS: All 5347 patients who underwent laparoscopic urologic procedures from 1996 to 2011 at our hospital were included in the study. Laparoscopic entry was carried out by either the closed Veress needle technique or the modified open Hasson technique. Patients' charts were reviewed retrospectively to investigate for access-related major vascular injuries. RESULTS: The closed technique was used in the first 474 operations and the open technique in the remaining 4873 cases. Three cases of major vascular injury were identified among our patients. They were 3 men scheduled for nephrectomy without any history of surgery. All injuries occurred in the closed-access group during the setup phase with insertion of the first trocar. The injury location was the abdominal aorta in 2 patients and the external iliac vein in 1 patient. Management was performed after conversion to open surgery, control of bleeding, and repair of the injured vessel. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with major vascular injury, its clinically higher incidence in laparoscopic urologic procedures with the closed-access technique leads us to suggest using the open technique for the entry phase of laparoscopy. Using the open-access technique may decrease laparophobia and encourage a higher number of urologists to enter the laparoscopy field.

Clipless laparoscopic adrenalectomy in children and young patients: a single center experience with 12 cases.

PURPOSE: Laparoscopy is the gold standard approach for management of some adrenal masses in adult cases. Still there have not been many findings in case of children. We present our experience with clipless laparoscopic adrenalectomy in pediatric cases for the first time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2007 to January 2011, thirteen laparoscopic adrenalectomy were performed in patients 5-18 years old. The first port (10 mm) was inserted using open approach above the umbilicus and three 5 mm trocars were inserted under direct vision. On the left side, the colon was mobilized medially, then the renal vein exposed. Adrenal vein was coagulated using bipolar cautery after separating from renal vein. No endoscopic clips were used. RESULTS: Eight girls and five boys with the mean age of 14.4 years old (ranging from 5 to 18 years old) underwent laparoscopic adrenalectomy. The mean operative time was 151 ± 47 (80- 240) minutes. The mean size of adrenal lesions in greatest diameter was 6.9 ± 2.4 cm (3.5 to 10). The mean hospital stay was 3.7 days (2-5) and average follow-up time was 21 months (6-27). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy in children and young adults is effective and safe if the cases are selected appropriately. Clipless laparoscopic approach by an expert surgeon has acceptable outcomes.