Adrenal Surgery

Adrenal nodules

These are common and most often completely benign. If over 1cm they may require assessment to see if there are any worrying features on the scan or any indication that they are producing hormones that might affect the body.

If they are producing hormones than our team will help guide you on how to manage this and if surgery is indicated.

Keyhole surgery/ Retroperitoneal

The adrenal gland can be removed through keyhole surgery. This can be done from the from the front of the abdomen or through the back (retroperitoneal). The retroperitoneal approach is only performed by a few placed in the UK and is known to have several advantages including faster and quicker recovery. Most of these are now done as daycase in our unit through 3 small scars in the back.

Conn’s syndrome

This is a benign tumour of the adrenal gland that is producing too much of a hormone called aldosterone. This can make your blood pressure high and make some of your salt levels low (potassium). If this is being produced from only one gland we can remove it in order to get the blood pressure and potassium levels under control.

Cushing’s syndrome

This occurs when your body has too much steroids (cortisol) in the blood stream. It can occur from a number of causes. A tumour of the adrenal gland can cause excess cortisol secretion. This can be removed in order to make your steroid levels normal again

Phaeochromocytoma

This is a rare tumour of adrenal gland where too much adrenaline is produced. This can make your blood pressure dangerously high and cause a lot of complications including heart attack or stroke is not treated. Medication will be started by our specialist endocrine team to ‘block’ the tumour and then keyhole surgery will be performed to remove the tumour.

Cancer/ Metastasis

Like all tissues in the body – the adrenal can (very rarely) turn cancerous. This will involve a specialist MDT (multidisciplinary) meeting and approach to tailor the treatment to the exact extent of disease. Where possible surgery will be performed to remove the adrenal cancer and any surrounding tissue.

The adrenal can also be the site of a metastasis (where cancer from another organ has spread to the adrenal). This can be excised via keyhole approach once it is agreed that this is the correct route of managing your condition.