Context: The initial excitement about the laparoscopic treatment of renal masses has been tempered by concerns related to increased operative time, technical complexity, and the suitability of laparoscopic approaches to oncologic surgery.
Objective: To provide a comprehensive review of intraoperative and postoperative complications and their prevention and management during laparoscopic surgery of renal tumors.
Evidence acquisition: A literature review of the Medline and Google Scholar databases was performed, searching for renal cell carcinoma, renal mass, laparoscopy, laparoscopic radical nephrectomy, open radical nephrectomy, laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, open partial nephrectomy, laparoscopic cryoablation, laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation, complications, intra-operative, and post-operative. English-language articles published between 1990 and 2008 were reviewed.
Evidence synthesis: Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN), whether transperitoneal or retroperitoneal, can be performed safely. The overall complication rate is low and does not significantly differ from that of the open experience. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN), in contrast, is a technically challenging procedure. Although the intermediate oncologic outcomes are comparable to those of the open experience, there are concerns related to warm ischemia time, and there is a risk of major complications such as urinary leakage and hemorrhage requiring transfusion. Laparoscopic-assisted ablative therapies (cryotherapy and radiofrequency) are being performed more commonly for the treatment of small exophytic renal lesions with a low complication rate and intermediate oncologic outcomes similar to LRN and LPN.
Conclusions: Complications associated with the laparoscopic management of renal masses vary among the different procedures and with surgeon experience. The rate of complication appears to be similar to that of open surgery.