Presented by: kyung kgi park MD, PhD
Jeju National University

Introduction

Minimally invasive surgery is widely used for treating adrenal gland tumors. Robot-assisted surgery with assisted suction port was considered more invasive than conventional three-port laparoscopic surgery. This abstract describes our experience with three-port retroperitoneoscopic robot-assisted surgery for adrenal tumors.

Materials

Between March 2021 and December 2021, five patients underwent three-port robot-assisted PRA. Patients were placed in a prone jackknife position, and a 1 cm transverse skin incision was made below the lowest tip of the 12th rib. Retroperitoneal space was created, and two 8mm robot working ports were inserted. CO2 was insufflated, and an 8 mm robotic camera was placed at the center of the incision. The adrenal gland was dissected using a Maryland dissector and curved shears, and the adrenal vein was ligated with a hem-o-lok clip. Patient data were analyzed retrospectively.

Results

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The mean patient age was 46.1 ± 7.9 years. Two patients underwent a right-side approach, and three underwent a left-side procedure. Three cases were pheochromocytoma, and two were benign adrenal cortical adenoma. The mean tumor size was 2.48 ± 1.58 cm. The mean surgery duration was 139 ± 57.6 minutes, and the mean estimated blood loss was 12.0 ± 6.8 ml. The average time to oral intake and postoperative hospital stay was 0.25 ± 0.01 days and 2.0 ± 1.23 days, respectively. No conversions to open surgery or postoperative complications occurred.

Conclusion

Our experience with three-port retroperitoneoscopic robot-assisted surgery for small adrenal tumors indicates its safety and feasibility. Further research is required to optimize patient selection criteria and verify its advantages over traditional PRA techniques.

Funding

none