Minimally invasive retroperitoneal adrenalectomy

The minimally invasive (MI) approach has become the gold standard in removing the adrenal gland. Both transperitoneal and retroperitoneal techniques were reported safe and effective. The retroperitoneal approach has the advantage of direct assess to the gland, easy access to retrocaval tumors, carries no cardiovascular or pulmonary risk of carbon dioxide insufflations to a high intra-abdominal pressure and is not affected by previous abdominal surgery or radiation. We report a case of MI retroperitoneal adrenalectomy for right adrenal incidentaloma in a recently diagnosed breast cancer patient with multiple medical problems and emphasize the advantage of this approach over the MI tranperitoneal approach in the presence of patient's co-morbidity. (author)