One-port retroperitoneoscopic varicocelectomy in children and adolescents

Abstract

Varicocele is an abnormal dilatation of the veins of the pampiniform plexus. The pathogenesis remains largely unanswered and proper management of the adolescent varicocele is controversial. Since the 1990s, many urologists have adopted the laparoscopic approach for treating varicoceles, and particularly by the transperitoneal approach (Belloli et al. 1996; Hagood et al. 1992; Jarrow et al. 1993; MacKinlay 1999; Matusda et al. 1992), which is never used in classic open surgery. To reproduce the same technique as in open surgery, we have tried to develop a retroperitoneal minimally invasive approach. As we have extensive experience with the use of the operating channel telescope in children (Valla et al. 1999), we have chosen a monotrocar retroperitoneal approach for treating varicoceles (Valla 2003). © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008.