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Retroperitoneoscopic renal surgery is performed by lateral or posterior approaches. Iterative modification led to development of an alternative 'anterior' approach. The study authors' experience with this novel approach in a prospective series of 69 children that includes 17 infants is reported. Mean operating time was 225 min for reduction pyeloplasty. Peritoneal tear is not uncommon (22%) but often does not require conversion. In the study authors' early experience, the conversion rate was 17% and postoperative complications 2.9%. This approach overcomes many existing challenges with retroperitoneoscopy. Benefits of exposure, orientation, and working space achieved with a transperitoneal approach are afforded while preserving the advantages of retroperitoneoscopy.

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BACKGROUND: Cryptorchidism is a common condition in boys. Approximately 20% of undescended testes are nonpalpable and may be located within the abdominal cavity. Given the potential of these gonads for malignant transformation and infertility, it is essential to determine the presence or absence of a nonpalpable testis. METHODS: Radiologic imaging and open surgical exploration have proved to be unreliable. In the hands of experienced surgeons, laparoscopy has become the method of choice for evaluating the nonpalpable testis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: An increasing number of surgeons are applying laparoscopy in the treatment of nonpalpable testes, and early results are encouraging. Both diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy necessitate operative skills. The exact advantages of laparoscopy over conventional surgery in orchidectomy and single- or two-stage orchidopexy need to be determined.

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Over a 40-month period, 24 consecutive children (1-15 years) underwent laparoscopic nephrectomy. The indication for surgery was a poorly functioning kidney (<6% on DMSA isotope scanning) secondary to a variety of causes, with or without pain or infection. Four cannulas were used in each patient. The kidney was approached through a small incision in the upper paracolic gutter without mobilization of the colon. The procedure was successful in all but one child, who had conversion to open technique because of poor laparoscopic viewing. In 12 children who required nephroureterectomy, the distal ureter was approached by an open technique through either a small extension of the iliac fossa cannula site or a Pfannenstiel incision for combined bladder surgery. The average operating time for laparoscopy was 85 (range 40-160) minutes. The children undergoing nephrectomy or nephroureterectomy alone had an average hospital stay of 2 (range 1-4) days. There were no laparoscopic or surgical complications. Laparoscopy provides a safe and successful approach to pediatric nephrectomy. The technique combines well with an open approach to the distal ureter when nephroureterectomy is indicated.

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BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the role of laparoscopy for managing the intra-abdominal testis. METHODS: Over 30 months, 48 children (six with previous groin explorations) underwent laparoscopy for a unilateral impalpable undescended testis. The patients' age ranged from 1 to 9 years. RESULTS: Eleven children required insertion of 'working ports' for mobilization of obscuring colon before the diagnosis could be established. Twenty-eight children had an absent testis. In nine, vas and vessels entered the internal ring. In 19, vas and vessels ended blindly above the internal ring. Twenty children had an intra-abdominal testis. Ten underwent a laparoscopic single-stage orchidopexy (eight without and two with ligation of vessels); at a minimum follow-up of 2 years, one testis in this group had atrophied, three were located in the lower half of the scrotum and six in the upper half. The remaining ten children underwent a laparoscopic two-stage Fowler-Stephens operation. At a minimum follow-up of 6 months, eight of these testes were palpable in the lower half and two in the upper half of the scrotum. CONCLUSION In the majority of cases, laparoscopy obviates the need for groin exploration. Technically a first-stage Fowler-Stephens procedure can be performed easily and effectively via the laparoscope. However, the second-stage Fowler-Stephens procedure or single-stage orchidopexy requires laparoscopic skills and may not necessarily provide sufficient length to the testicular attachment.

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METHODS: During a 19-month period, seven children with empyema underwent thoracoscopy. The average age was 7.5 years (range, 3 to 15 years) and the duration of illness before surgery 16.5 days (range, 7 to 42 days). All patients received preoperative antibiotics, underwent ultrasound or CT scan and thoracentesis. Two patients had preoperative intercostal tube drainage. Indications for operations were lack of response to antibiotics of loculation of pleural fluid on imaging. All procedures were performed under general anesthesia with a single lumen tube. RESULTS: Thoracoscopy allowed for good access and complete clearance in two patients. In the remaining patients, thoracoscopy failed to clear the disease because of difficulty with access, instrumentation, and clearance of thick debris. These patients underwent thoracotomy with two requiring decortication. CONCLUSIONS: This experience suggests that even in the early stage of empyema formation, thoracoscopy is not as effective as thoracotomy. Larger experience and studies are required to define the place of thoracoscopy in the management of childhood empyema.

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The percutaneous endoscopic approach is an established method for fashioning a gastrostomy. However, the technique is not without complications. Visualising the peritoneal cavity via a small laparoscope may provide additional safety to percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

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BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The authors present their early experience with laparoscopic ligation of varicoceles in children. METHODS: Over a period of 30 months, 17 children underwent laparoscopic treatment of unilateral varicoceles (age range, 7 to 16 years). Nine underwent ligation of veins alone and eight (including four children who had recurrent varicoceles) underwent ligation of testicular veins and artery. In three patients, vas-associated veins were ligated in addition to the main testicular vessels. RESULTS: The average operation time was 30 minuts (range, 14 to 75) and hospital stay, 11 hours (range, 4 to 22). There were no technical failures. Minor scrotal emphysema developed in one child, and a painful, tender swelling above the epididymis developed in another. At an average follow-up of 24 months (range, 6 to 30), all patients were asymptomatic and had marked reduction in the size of the varicoceles. CONCLUSION: Further experience and long-term follow-up are clearly required before the efficacy of this procedure is established.

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We report the case of a 10-month-old boy with intussusception. Following two failed air enemas, successful reduction of his ileocolic intussusception was achieved laparoscopically. We do not advocate abandoning safe and established surgical techniques used to treat irreducible lesions, but we are encouraged by this experience to further explore the role of laparoscopy in the treatment of this common condition.

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During a 16-month period, 15 neurologically impaired infants and children for whom medical treatment failed underwent laparoscopic fundoplication. The indications for surgery included feeding difficulties, vomiting, and recurrent chest aspiration. The patients' weight range was 3.9 and 42 kg (6 weighed less than 12 kg). Access was modified according to each patient's size and shape. The average operating time was 2.2 hours (range, 1.4 to 3) for fundoplication and 3.1 hours (range, 2.3 to 4.1) for fundoplication with gastrostomy. Two patients had conversion to open surgery because of hypercarbia or perforated oesophagus. Use of postoperative analgesia was limited to the first 24 hours, and fluid intake and feeding were begun on days 1 and 2, respectively. Gas bloating was common postoperatively, and diarrhoea developed in three children. Twelve patients had clinical improvement, and a recurrent hiatus hernia developed in one. Laparoscopic fundoplication can be successful; however, awareness of the differences in technique for paediatric (disabled children in particular) and adult patients is essential. The technique deserves further investigation.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability of open inguinal exploration for the investigation of the impalpable testis by reviewing laparoscopic findings after previous negative inguinal exploration. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Laparoscopy was performed in 18 boys (with a total of 22 impalpable testes) in whom previous inguinal exploration in their referring hospitals had yielded negative or inconclusive findings. Subsequent management of the impalpable testes was based on laparoscopic findings. RESULTS: Despite previous negative surgical findings at inguinal exploration, laparoscopy revealed that 13 of the 22 impalpable testes (59%) were present, 12 within the abdomen and one in the inguinal canal. Absence of the remaining nine testes was positively confirmed by visualizing confluent blind ending vas and vessels. CONCLUSION: Inguinal exploration is an unreliable method of investigating the impalpable testis, with an unacceptably high incidence of false-negative or inconclusive findings. Laparoscopy should be undertaken as the initial diagnostic manoeuvre of choice.

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A modified technique of tunnelling for jugular venous catheters in the newborn is described. The technique eliminates cannula-kinking and offers a more convenient position for the catheter.

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Over a 6-year period, in a series of 107 consecutive patients with antenatally detected urological anomalies, 45 had pelviureteric junction (PUJ) hydronephrosis (66 units). Of these, 24 units (36%) had obstructive (group I) and 42 (64%) non-obstructive hydronephrosis (group II). Significantly compromised renal function was found only in group I. Treatment in group I was by an early pyeloplasty; in group II the patients were kept under close review. During the 6-year period, 2 units (5%) in group II, deteriorated, 13 (31%) improved and 27 (64%) were unchanged. These results suggest that early in life, antenatally diagnosed PUJ hydronephrosis without obstruction may be a relatively benign condition but will require long-term follow-up in order to determine the natural history of the condition.

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Five patients with Kawasaki disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome) are reported whose varied presentations included acute abdominal pain, peripheral arterial aneurysms, digital gangrene and sterile pyuria and whose presenting pathology ranged from hydrops of the gallbladder to enteric pseudo-obstruction. As the complications of the disease can usually be managed without resort to surgery, which is associated with a mortality rate of up to 25 per cent, the recognition of Kawasaki disease will prevent hazardous and unnecessary laparotomy.

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In a prospective randomized study three different feeding regimens after operation were compared in 74 babies with infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis: gradual regarding of feeds over 48 h (regimen 1), rapid regarding of feeds over 16 h (regimen 2), and initial starvation followed by full normal feeds at 24 h (regimen 3). No significant difference between the treatment groups was found either in episodes of vomiting after operation (regimen 1, 2.9 episodes in 21 patients; regimen 2, 3.6 episodes in 28 patients; regimen 3, 3.6 episodes in 25 patients) or in the mean duration of postoperative hospital stay (regimen 1, 59.3 h; regimen 2, 47.8 h; regimen 3, 56.7 h). We conclude that vomiting following pyloromyotomy is self-limiting and independent of the timetable or composition of the postoperative dietary regimen.

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