OBJECTIVES: The usual laparoscopic hand assisted nephrectomy procedure requires either two or three trocars and a small incision to extract the organ. Our experience reveals that surgical invasion is significantly less when we use only one trocar and a retroperitoneal approach. METHODS: We start with a small low oblique incision close to the pubis and insert a trocar over the iliac crest. When the kidney is free we grasp the undissected vascular pedicle between thumb and middle finger and without moving the inserted hand, we remove the telescope and introduce the stapler. The index finger is used blind to check that the stapler is correctly positioned before triggering. Finally, we divide the ureter in the same way We have carried out 74 nephrectomies with this procedure. RESULTS: The mean operative time was 67.12 minutes. A retroperitoneal haematoma occurred in one patient and was drained by the same approach without further incident. One patient had an intestinal occlusion that in the reoperation was found to be caused by a loop of intestine trapped in a peritoneal tear: the postoperative was satisfactory. We lost one patient: an 89-year-old lady with a pyonephrosis and a retroperitoneal abscess. The operation was uneventful, but the patient died after five days; possibly because of septic shock. The other patients had no significant complications. CONCLUSIONS: The use of only one trocar markedly reduced operative invasion. The blind division en-bloc of the pedicle saves valuable time and does not offer any additional risk. The possibility of an arterio-venous fistula is remote because the stapler leaves the artery close to the vein, but separated from it. Cost is minimal because the surgeon only needs one trocar and a stapler. Consequently, we believe that this procedure with only one trocar could also be safely adopted for living donor nephrectomy
OBJECTIVES: The usual laparoscopic hand assisted nephrectomy procedure requires either two or three trocars and a small incision to extract the organ. Our experience reveals that surgical invasion is significantly less when we use only one trocar and a retroperitoneal approach. METHODS: We start with a small low oblique incision close to the pubis and insert a trocar over the iliac crest. When the kidney is free we grasp the undissected vascular pedicle between thumb and middle finger and without moving the inserted hand, we remove the telescope and introduce the stapler. The index finger is used blind to check that the stapler is correctly positioned before triggering. Finally, we divide the ureter in the same way We have carried out 74 nephrectomies with this procedure. RESULTS: The mean operative time was 67.12 minutes. A retroperitoneal haematoma occurred in one patient and was drained by the same approach without further incident. One patient had an intestinal occlusion that in the reoperation was found to be caused by a loop of intestine trapped in a peritoneal tear: the postoperative was satisfactory. We lost one patient: an 89-year-old lady with a pyonephrosis and a retroperitoneal abscess. The operation was uneventful, but the patient died after five days; possibly because of septic shock. The other patients had no significant complications. CONCLUSIONS: The use of only one trocar markedly reduced operative invasion. The blind division en-bloc of the pedicle saves valuable time and does not offer any additional risk. The possibility of an arterio-venous fistula is remote because the stapler leaves the artery close to the vein, but separated from it. Cost is minimal because the surgeon only needs one trocar and a stapler. Consequently, we believe that this procedure with only one trocar could also be safely adopted for living donor nephrectomy