Surgical approaches for retroperitoneal tumors

Abstract

Surgeons are frequently confronted with the treatment of retroperitoneal masses. The respective tumor entities comprise sarcoma, adrenal carcinoma, hormonally active and inactive benign adrenal tumors, adrenal metastasis, extragonadal manifestations of germ cell tumors, lymphoma and lymphatic metastases of extra-retroperitoneal primaries. This review, which is based on a selective literature review using the PubMed database and reference lists of retrieved publications, provides an overview on surgical approaches including decision for resection, required preoperative measures, access modality (open / minimally-invasive), extent of resection, and importance of surgical margins. Many retroperitoneal tumor entities require an individualized multi-modal and surgical treatment approach. Pre-therapeutic ascertainment of the tumor entity by cross-sectional imaging and, in selected cases, biopsy, is crucial. Multidisciplinary treatment planning is indispensable, and often specific surgical techniques need to be employed.

Keywords

• Retroperitoneal tumors
• Surgical technique
• Surgical access
• Resection margins
• Preoperative assessment