Expeditious management of an unexpected complication of left renal vein ligation during right retroperitoneoscopic simple nephrectomy: A lesson learned the hard way

Abstract

We present a case of inadvertent left renal vein clipping during right retroperitoneoscopic nephrectomy (RPN) and describe its expeditious identification and management. A 13-year-old girl underwent RPN for nonfunctioning kidney due to urolithiasis. During the dissection of the right renal vein, the inferior vena cava (IVC) got lifted off the parietal wall and the left renal vein was mistakenly ligated. Based on a strong intra-operative suspicion, the patient underwent an urgent computed tomography angiography which confirmed the ligation of the left renal vein. The patient was reoperated immediately and an end-to-side anastomosis was performed between the left renal vein and the IVC.