[Laparoscopic resection of retroperitoneal schwannoma : report of three cases and review of 22 cases in Japanese literature].

Retroperitoneal schwannoma is a rare tumor. Only 19 cases have been reported to be treated by laparoscopic surgery. We performed successful laparoscopic excision of retroperitoneal schwannoma using the four-trocar in three patients who had a left retroperitoneal mass. The patients were two women and one man. They were 62, 60 and 57 years old. The tumor was 70, 45 and 50 mm in greatest diameter and operative time was 204, 243 and 254 min. respectively. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was schwannoma. There was no morbidity or mortality. Preoperative diagnosis of schwannoma is very difficult. However schwannoma is a benign tumor with a good prognosis. This laparoscopic excision for retroperitoneal schwannoma is effective and rather safe.