ABSTRACT
Laparoscopic surgery dates back to 1901 when Kelling performed a “celioscopic procedure” by inserting a cystoscope into an air insufflated abdomen of a dog to inspect the abdominal viscera. However, it was not until the 1940s, that laparoscopic surgery was actually developed in the field of gynecology, and afterwards in gastrointestinal surgery from 1986 onwards. There was a significant delay in its use in urologic procedures if we consider that it was not until 1990 that the first laparoscopic nephrectomy was performed by Ralph Clayman, and 2 years later Schuessler et al reported the first attempt to perform a laparoscopic prostatectomy; then, in 1997, they published 9 cases of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy finding it a difficult procedure with no advantages over open surgery.1 During that same year, Raboy published a case of an extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy.2 By December that same year, Richard Gaston (Bordeaux, France), in a personal communication, indicated that he had performed a transperitoneal radical prostatectomy in less than 6 hours. Six weeks later, Bertrand Guillonneau and Guy Vallancien started to perform their first radical prostatectomies;3,4 followed 5 months later by Claude Abbou.5 Nowadays, virtually all of the urologic oncologic surgeries can be performed by a laparoscopic approach.6
