OBJECTIVE To report our initial experience and early results of laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy (LPL). METHODS Between May 1991 and April 1992, 10 patients with genitourinary malignancy (eight prostate, one bladder carcinoma, one penile melanoma) underwent LPL. Following biopsy, initial staging was carried out using computed tomography (CT), a bone scan and the prostate specific antigen level (prostate cancer). Six patients underwent unilateral laparoscopic dissection, three patients bilateral dissection and one patient required conversion to an open procedure. Operative times ranged from 2 to 3 h, and the number of lymph nodes removed ranged from three to nine (median five). RESULTS Three patients had their staging altered following LPL (one patient was upstaged and two patients were downstaged), with significant therapeutic implications. Two patients suffered thromboembolic complications while undergoing definitive therapy soon after LPL. CONCLUSIONS Our early results suggest that LPL is valuable in identifying suitable patients for radical therapy as well as excluding patients with lymph node involvement, thereby reducing morbidity.