[Retroperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomy in children younger than nine years-old: state of the art].

Introduction And Aim: In Portugal, there is very few experience in pediatric retroperitoneoscopy. The authors present the first Portuguese series of retroperitoneal laparoscopic nephrectomies (RLN) in children younger than nine years-old, as well as a literature review about the theme.

Material And Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical charts of all children submitted to RLN between January 2009 and December 2009 in a Pediatric Surgery Department. The literature review was made searching related articles in Medline.

Results: Eight RLN were preformed. The medium age of the patients was 4,5 years-old (minimum = 11 months, maximum = 8,6 years). The indications for surgery were: four multicystic kidneys, three reflux nephropathy, and one obstructive nephropathy. Four RLN were preformed on the left side. The medium operative time was 99 minutes (minimum = 50 minutes, maximum = 180 minutes). There was a shortening of operative time as the surgical team got more experienced. There were no conversions to open surgery. Medium hospital stay was 1,5 days (minimum = 1 day, maximum = 2 days). There were no intra-operative and no post-operative complications.

Conclusions: RLN is feasible in children younger than nine years-old and should be considered standard treatment in pediatric population.