Comparison of Optical Trocar Access Versus Veress Needle Insertion Technique for Peritoneal Entry in Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy.

Background: Nearly half of all complications in laparoscopic surgery occur at the intraperitoneal access. We compared direct optical entry (DOE) with Veress needle entry (VNE) in terms of abdominal entry time and entry-associated complications in patients who underwent laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN).

Methods: Between June 2010 and July 2023, data from 813 patients who underwent LDN were analyzed. Age, male-to-female ratio, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, body mass index, operation side, previous abdominal surgery, abdominal entry technique, abdominal entry time, entry-associated complications, conversion to different abdominal entry techniques, and conversion to open surgery were evaluated.

Results: DOE and VNE were performed on 433 and 281 patients, respectively. Age (48.89 ± 12.11 vs 47.59 ± 11.34 years), male-to-female ratio (44.8% vs 40.9% males and 55.2% vs 59.1% females), ASA score (2 vs 2 median ASA score), body mass index (26.72 ± 6.11 vs 27.07 ± 5.83 kg/m), and operation side (63.0% vs 61.3% left nephrectomy) were not statistically significant differences between the DOE and VNE groups (P > .05). However, abdominal entry time was significantly reduced in the DOE group compared with the VNE group (26.8 ± 20.8 vs 49.5 ± 34.1 seconds, P = .007, respectively). Entry-associated complications were observed in 8 (1.12%) patients. No major (grades 3-5) complications were observed. There were no statistically significant differences in overall (0.6% vs 1.7%, P = .291), grade 1, and grade 2 complication rates between the DOE and VNE groups (0.4% vs 1.4%, P = .366; 0.2% vs 0.3%, P = .714, respectively).

Conclusions: DOE and VNE are not foolproof. DOE is a safe, feasible, and faster technique in patients who underwent LDN.