The Therapeutic Management of Retroperitoneal Injuries

Background: In the retro peritoneum different organs of various origins (vascular, nervous, muscular, fascia, etc.) are located. These represent the source of different surgical conditions that cause, even today, serious problems of early diagnosis and treatment.
Material and method: We have conducted a retrospective study throughout a period of 8 years (2004–2011). We followed the incidence, the treatment and the evolution of several types of retroperitoneal lesions.
Results: In this period 79 cases of retroperitoneal conditions were encountered, representing 0.51% from the total of 15,284 patients admitted and treated within our clinic. The most common cases were those of tumour conditions and retroperitoneal primitive tumours (RPT). Many inflammatory conditions were also encountered. There were a few cases of retroperitoneal overflows or of parasitic diseases and we did not encounter cases of retroperitoneal fibrosis or malacoplaky.
Conclusions: In our study the majority of the retroperitoneal conditions were of tumour nature, especially malignant RPTs. Secondary retroperitoneal tumours (adenopathies, metastases, relapses) were less frequent. The excision of the retroperitoneal tumours is delicate, especially due to the vascular factor caused by anatomical conditions and their own vascularisation. On well-chosen cases we can use minimally invasive surgical techniques (laparoscope, punctures and eco-guided drainages), which enable a favorable post-operative evolution.