Extraperitoneal access

Abstract

Initial development of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) was based on the experience of a few surgeons with transperitoneal laparoscopic access to the prostate and seminal vesicles.1-3 Transperitoneal laparoscopic radical prostatectomy was successfully introduced in routine clinical practice in France following the pioneering work of Gaston and Piéchaud in 1998 (unpublished series). Transperitoneal approach became predominant worldwide and was considered as the gold standard of laparoscopic prostatectomy. © 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited.