Randomized clinical trial of posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy versus lateral transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy with a 5-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: To test if posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy (PRA) is superior to lateral transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LTLA).

BACKGROUND: Most popular LTLA has been recently challenged by an increasing popularity of PRA, which is believed by many surgeons (not evidence-based) as superior to LTLA in the treatment of small and benign adrenal tumors.

METHODS: Participants were assigned randomly to PRA or LTLA and followed for 5 years after surgery. The primary endpoint was the duration of surgery. Secondary endpoints were blood loss, conversion rate, postoperative recovery, morbidity, and costs.

RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were included, of whom 61 (PRA 30, LTLA 31) completed the 5-year follow-up. The following differences were identified in favor of PRA vs LTLA: shorter duration of surgery (50.8 vs 77.3 minutes), lower intraoperative blood loss (52.7 vs 97.8 mL), diminished pain intensity within 48 hours postoperatively, lower prevalence of shoulder-tip pain (3.0% vs 37.5%), shorter time to oral intake (4.4 vs 7.3 hours), shorter time to ambulation (6.1 vs 11.5 hours), shorter length of hospital stay, and lower cost (1728 € vs 2315 €), respectively (P<0.001 for all). No differences were noted in conversion rate or morbidity except for herniation occurring more often after LTLA than PRA (16.1% vs 0%, P=0.022) and need for hernia repair (12.9% vs 0%, P=0.050), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Both approaches were equally safe. However, outcomes of PRA operations were superior to LTLA in terms of shorter surgery duration, lower blood loss, lower postoperative pain, faster recovery, improved cost-effectiveness, and abolished risk of surgical access site herniation.

REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01959711 (https://www.clinicaltrials.gov).