Risk of catecholamine crisis in patients undergoing resection of unsuspected pheochromocytoma

PURPOSE: To report the risk of catecholamine crisis in patients undergoing resection of unsuspected pheochromocytoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Over a four-year period, we retrospectively identified four patients who underwent resection of adrenal pheochromocytoma in whom the diagnosis was unsuspected based on preoperative clinical, biochemical, and imaging evaluation. RESULTS: None of the patients exhibited preoperative clinical features of catecholamine excess. Preoperative biochemical screening in two patients was normal. CT scan performed in all patients demonstrated a nonspecific enhancing adrenal mass. During surgical resection of the adrenal mass, hemodynamic instability was observed in two of four patients, and one of these two patients also suffered a myocardial infarct. CONCLUSION: Both surgeons and radiologists should maintain a high index of suspicion for pheochromocytoma, as the tumor can be asymptomatic, biochemically negative, and have nonspecific imaging features. Resection of such unsuspected pheochromocytomas carries a substantial risk of intraoperative hemodynamic instability.

The effect of kidney morcellation on operative time, incision complications, and postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic nephrectomy

INTRODUCTION: Compare the outcomes between kidney morcellation and two types of open specimen extraction incisions, several covariates need to be taken into consideration that have not yet been studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 153 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy at our institution, 107 who underwent specimen morcellation and 46 with intact specimen removal, either those with connected port sites with a muscle-cutting incision and those with a remote, muscle-splitting incision. Operative time, postoperative analgesia requirements, and incisional complications were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analysis, comparing variables such as patient age, gender, body mass index (BMI), laterality, benign versus cancerous renal conditions, estimated blood loss, specimen weight, overall complications, and length of stay. RESULTS: There was no significant difference for operative time between the 2 treatment groups (p = 0.65). Incision related complications occurred in 2 patients (4.4 percent) from the intact specimen group but none in the morcellation group (p = 0.03). Overall narcotic requirement was lower in patients with morcellated (41 mg) compared to intact specimen retrieval (66 mg) on univariate (p = 0.03) and multivariate analysis (p = 0.049). Upon further stratification, however, there was no significant difference in mean narcotic requirement between the morcellation and muscle-splitting incision subgroup (p = 0.14). CONCLUSION: Morcellation does not extend operative time, and is associated with significantly less postoperative pain compared to intact specimen retrieval overall, although this is not statistically significant if a remote, muscle-splitting incision is made. Morcellation markedly reduces the risk of incisional-related complications.