Newswise — This study assessed robotic partial nephrectomy for patients with complex kidney tumors, which were defined as hilar, completely endophytic, or multiple tumors. A total of 14 tumors were resected from 8 patients. Despite the complex nature of these kidney tumors and a mean tumor size of 3.6 cm, reasonable warm ischemia times were achieved using the robotic approach (mean 31 minutes) with negative surgical margins in all patients.

The first author of the study is Dr. Craig Rogers, currently the Director of Robotic Kidney Surgery at the Vattikuti Urology Institute, Henry Ford Hospital, who worked with Dr's. Peter Pinto and W. Marston Linehan in optimizing this approach during his urologic oncology fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. "At the National Cancer Institute, we had a unique population of patients with complex kidney tumors who were in need of a nephron sparing approach. Previous studies on robotic partial nephrectomy described patients with smaller, more exophytic tumors. This study provides evidence that a robotic approach is also feasible in patients with more complex tumors. A robotic approach can facilitate the technical challenges of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, potentially allowing select patients to receive a minimally-invasive and nephron-sparing surgery who might otherwise receive open surgery or total nephrectomy."

Written byCraig Rogers, MD, as part of Beyond the Abstract on UroToday.com. This initiative offers a method of publishing for the professional urology community. Authors are given an opportunity to expand on the circumstances, limitations etc... of their research by referencing the published abstract.

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http://www.urotoday.com/38/browse_categories/renal_cancer/robotic_partial_nephrectomy_for_complex_renal_tumors_surgical_technique__abstract.html

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