Laparoscopic renal surgery.

Abstract

Despite all the recent developments in laparoscopic renal surgery, it has to be kept in mind that although only small incisions are made, laparoscopy is still surgery. Therefore, the technical background as well as the surgeons' skills must ensure that any laparoscopic procedure can be quickly converted into an open surgical procedure, if complications (such as bleeding or injury to the viscera) or unexpected difficulties (inability to establish a pneumoperitoneum) should occur. Also, as with any new procedure, the value of each new laparoscopic technique can only be determined by direct and critical comparison to its current open incisional surgical counterpart. In order to progress from a heralded "fad" to a medically accepted "fixture", each laparoscopic innovation must provide the patient with a less morbid, yet equally efficacious alternative to open surgery. Stated more simply, the query remains: "It's new but is it better?"