Longitudinal analysis of laparoendoscopic single-site adrenalectomy and conventional laparoscopic adrenalectomy regarding patient-reported satisfaction and cosmesis outcomes

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To compare longitudinal patient-reported cosmesis of laparoendoscopic single-site adrenalectomy (LESS-A) to that of conventional laparoscopic adrenalectomy (CLA). METHODS: A total of 23, 15, and 9 patients underwent transumbilical LESS-A (TU-LESS), subcostal LESS-A (SC-LESS), and CLA, respectively. A questionnaire was administered asking the patient to assess wound pain (0: not painful to 10: very painful), satisfaction (0: not satisfied to 10: very satisfied), and cosmesis (0: very ugly to 10: very beautiful) on the basis of a visual analogue scale. We mailed questionnaires to all patients who received LESS-A and CLA at postoperative 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in the pain scores between TU-LESS, SC-LESS, and CLA at every time point. In the CLA group, the cosmesis and satisfaction scores were significantly lower at postoperative 3 months (p = 0.0033, 0.0130). There were no significant inter-group differences in the cosmesis score between the three groups after postoperative 6 months. However, the satisfaction score of SC-LESS decreased after postoperative 3 months and was significantly lower at postoperative 9 and 12 months (p = 0.0333, 0.0160). The difference between the satisfaction scores of each procedure gradually increased after postoperative 6 months. CONCLUSION: This study is the first comprehensive longitudinal analysis of patient-reported satisfaction and cosmesis outcomes between LESS-A and CLA. The resulting data provide important insights into the improvement in satisfaction in patients who underwent TU-LESS. These findings can facilitate the treatment decision-making process for patients who are considering laparoscopic adrenalectomy.