Two-Port Minimally Invasive Nephro-Laparoscopic Retroperitoneal Debridement for Pancreatic Necrosis

Walled-off necrosis (WON) occurs in approximately 20% of patients with necrotizing pancreatitis. Infection occurs in approximately 30% of necrosis patients, and despite advances in management, infected necrosis still confers a high mortality between 30 and 40%. While sterile necrosis requires drainage only for cases of symptom relief or "persistent unwellness," prompt intervention is critical for infected necrosis. Several management strategies exist depending on the location and anatomy of the necrosum. In particular, retroperitoneal collections away from the stomach are typically managed with a step-up approach that begins with percutaneous drain placement. While a minority of patients skirt further intervention, the majority require formal debridement at some point via the existing drain tract. These debridement techniques include video-assisted retroperitoneal debridement (VARD) through a flank incision or minimally invasive retroperitoneal pancreatic (MIRP) necrosectomy under continuous irrigation with a nephroscope. While effective, both debridement strategies have drawbacks: for VARD, the flank incision is prone to infections and hernia while MIRP debridements are tedious and often require repeat operative trips. To overcome these pitfalls, we describe a novel two-trocar minimally invasive hybrid nephro-laparoscopic retroperitoneal debridement technique for an efficient retroperitoneal pancreatic necrosectomy.