[Laparoscopic vs. open nephrectomy. 10 years' results of a nonrandomized comparative study of 549 patients with benign kidney diseases].

We report the results from a nonrandomized comparison of open flank vs laparoscopic nephrectomy in patients with benign renal disease. Between 1993 and 2002, 549 nephrectomies for benign renal disease were performed at the Department of Urology of the Medical University of Lübeck and the Urological Department of the Martin Luther University in Halle/Wittenberg. There were 236 patients in the open flank nephrectomy group and 313 patients in the laparoscopic nephrectomy group. Clinical parameters were compared among both groups. Median operative time in the open flank nephrectomy group was 90 min (range: 30-240 min) and also 90 min in the laparoscopic nephrectomy group (range: 41-210 min). There were 54 complications (17.2%) in the laparoscopic nephrectomy group compared to 60 complications (25.4%) in the open flank nephrectomy group. Patients in the laparoscopy group demonstrated clear advantages in terms of analgesic use for pain control, hospital stay, and convalescence. Laparoscopic nephrectomy results in a significantly briefer postoperative course when compared to open flank nephrectomy. However, due to a limited number of patients, a laparoscopic nephrectomy is mainly reserved for laparoscopic centers. Nevertheless, the laparoscopic approach should be offered to the majority of patients with benign renal disease requiring nephrectomy.