ABSTRACT

The last ten years have witnessed the movement of laparoscopic urologic surgery from an experimental technique to a standard approach in many clinical situations. Despite excellent reported results with laparoscopic nephroureterectomy, open nephroureterectomy with distal ureterectomy and bladder cuff resection is still the gold standard treatment of urothelial neoplasms of kidney and ureter. The controversy regarding the role of laparoscopic nephrectomy with respect to the cancer control is little comparing to the management of distal ureter and bladder cuff through laparoscopic approach. There are multiple options for laparoscopic excision of bladder cuff, however a consensus has not been established yet. In this review techniques and outcomes of laparoscopic nephroureterectomy are described.