Laparoscopic Surgery for a Retroperitoneal Ectopic Bronchogenic Cyst in a Child

Abstract

A 5-year-old girl complained of abdominal pain for four days and an inflamed retroperitoneal cyst was detected posterior to the pancreas on computed tomography. We conducted empiric antibiotic therapy and the symptom was improved. The retroperitoneal cyst became smaller with a thick capsule, and ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a solitary benign cystic lesion. We performed interval laparoscopic surgery for the retroperitoneal cyst without complications five months after the resolution of inflammation in order to confirm the diagnosis and to prevent recurrence of the symptom. A histopathological evaluation established the diagnosis of bronchogenic cyst. Bronchogenic cysts frequently occur in the mediastinum but rarely in the retroperitoneal space. Bronchogenic cysts are assumed to increase in size with age and their malignant transformations are reported in few cases. In recent years, laparoscopic surgeries for retroperitoneal bronchogenic cysts have been performed in adults and infrequently in children. We resected the retroperitoneal bronchogenic cyst completely by laparoscopic surgery despite adhesions caused by inflammation.