[Subcutaneous endoscopic surgery in urology].

OBJECTIVES

In endoscopic subcutaneous surgical procedures, new to Urology, the subcutaneous tissues are insufflated with carbon dioxide through a trocar to create working space without a surgical incision. Although this technique now predominates in surgery of the face, neck and breast, from the literature it appears that it has not yet been adopted for surgery in the region of the inguinal canal or in the scrotum. We describe these approaches.

METHODS

To carry out the inguinal canal approach we introduced three 5mm trocars and dissected the external oblique fascia until we identified the superficial inguinal ring and gained access to the scrotum. The scrotal approach is directly into the scrotum. To date, we have only used the scrotal approach to treat hydroceles. We carefully detached the tunica vaginalis from the scrotal wall and kept the tunica intact before puncturing it to empty the fluid contents. The tunica was then resected and withdrawn through a trocar.

RESULTS

We have removed three cysts and one solid tumor of the spermatic cord with the inguinal approach. With the scrotal approach we have treated six hydroceles. Our experience with these two small series allows us to confidently state that the procedure offers no particular technical difficulty; that operating times are short and that post-operative pain is very probably less than usual.

CONCLUSIONS

Although endoscopic subcutaneous surgery in Urology is in its infancy, our results until now have been excellent and permit us to conclude that in the future there will be more indications for this type of surgery.