Cecchini Rosell Luis

Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy is the surgical procedure undergone to extirpate a diseased kidney. With the laparoscopic technique, the renal artery is ligated by means of haemostatic clips and the renal vein also with clips or with a laparoscopic stapler. In the traditional approach, the usual incision follows the line of the last rib to access the kidney. That wound is painful and requires a long convalescence. In the laparoscopic approach, the wound needed to extract the kidney is much smaller and may be moved to a less painful location, with better recovering. Surgical bleeding tends to be minimal.

Regretfully not all renal tumors may be intervened by a laparoscopic approach. Big size tumours, with neighbor organ affection or the ones affecting large vessels (renal vein or vena cava) may still need an open approach.