The authors compare two successive series of surgically treated phaeochromocytomas. The first series consisted of 18 patients treated by laparotomy. During the immediate postoperative course, one patient died, 10 patients developed complications and 11 patients required blood transfusion. One patient died later from a recurrence. In the following series, 17 patients were operated by lumbotomy, which was bilateral in three cases. The mortality was nul, two patients developed complications and three patients required transfusion. Although successive series must be compared very cautiously, lumbotomy is justified by the surgical simplicity and the decreased morbidity. It is only possible as a result of the progress in medical imaging, particularly computed tomography, meta-iodobenzylguanidine isotope scans and magnetic resonance imaging.