Congenital defects of upper urinary tract, represents an important group of surgically treated problems in paediatric urology. Laparoscopy brings an advantage of miniinvasive approach to this field of surgery.
It offers possibility of view magnification with precise tissue dissection and minimal surgical trauma. Decreased operation trauma is associated with decreased analgesic consumption, shorter hospital stay with preserved good functional results and child safety.
It is also associated with excellent cosmetic results mainly important for older patients. Procedures are performed for both, obstructive and refluxing uropathies in simplex and also in duplex kidney anomalies.
In some institutions are laparoscopic procedures in selected cases methods of choice before open ones. Still controversial is benefit of laparoscopy for youngest children, especially under one year of age.
Retroperitoneoscopy offers possibility of extraperitoneal approach to the primary retroperitoneal organs like a kidney, renal pelvis and ureter. It also represents an alternative for children where transperitoneal laparoscopic approach is not possible or is potentially associated with increased surgical risks.