Our Initial Experiences with Laparoscopic Urologic Surgery

Objective: Retrospectively, to evaluate outcomes and complications of urological laparoscopic surgery cases performed in our clinic. Methods: A total of 115 patients who received laparo­scopic surgery between January 2012 and January 2015 were retrospectively evaluated. Included patients were assessed in terms of demographic characteristics, pre­operative diagnosis, type of laparoscopic approach, dura­tion of surgery and hospitalization, complications before and after surgery, and postoperative requirement for open surgery. Results: 61 of included patients were women, 54 were male, and the mean age was 52.4±11.7 years. Sixty-eight patients underwent transperitoneal and 47 patients re­ceived retroperitoneal procedures. While 29 patients re­ceived renal cyst excision, 25 had simple nephrectomy, 22 had ureterolithotomy, 19 had radical nephrectomy, 15 had pyelolithotomy and 5 had pyeloplasty. Four (3,4%) of the 115 patients required converting to open surgery. Except these patients, no major complication or mortal­ity was encountered. The mean duration of surgery for the most commonly applied procedures were as follows: renal cyst excision 62 (50-110) min, simple nephrectomy 125 (95-140) min, ureterolithotomy 108 (90-130) min, rad­ical nephrectomy 141 (105-175) min, pyelolithotomy 116 (95-140) min, and pyeloplasty 166 (150-190) min. The mean hospital stay was 3.7±2.8 (2-11) days. Conclusion: The success and complication rates of the laparoscopic surgeries performed in our clinic were con­sistent with those reported in the literature. In the light of technological advances and increasing experience, as well as based on the higher tolerance exhibited by pa­tients, we believe that laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive method that is a safe alternative to open surgery