Role Of Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy For Renal Cell Carcinomas In The Purpose Of Nephron Sparing

Abstract

I-Hung Shao,1,2 Hung-Cheng Kan,1,2 Chung-Yi Liu,1,2 Po-Hung Lin,1,2 Kai-Jie Yu,1,2 See-Tong Pang,1,2 Chun-Te Wu,3 Cheng-Keng Chuang,1,2 Ying-Hsu Chang1,2 1Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, LinKou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 2College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; 3Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, KeeLung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, KeeLung, TaiwanCorrespondence: Cheng-Keng Chuang; Ying-Hsu ChangDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 5 Fu-Shing Street, Kweishan, Taoyuan 333, TaiwanTel [phone] Ext 2103Fax [phone]Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Surgery remains the standard treatment for localized renal cell carcinomas, and partial nephrectomy is considered before radical nephrectomy with the aim of preserving renal function. This study aimed to compare robot-assisted and open partial nephrectomy for the purpose of nephron sparing.Materials and methods: We retrospectively enrolled consecutive patients who received partial nephrectomy at a single tertiary medical center from January 2008 to January 2015. Medical records and radiographic images were reviewed. We analyzed the patients’ general characteristics, underlying disease, complications, length of hospital stay, renal tumor complexity, surgery type, renal function, and specimen and tumor size. A comparison between open and robot-assisted nephrectomy groups was performed.Results: A total of 136 patients were enrolled, with a male to female ratio of 2:3 and a mean age of 57.8 years. Of these, 71 and 65 patients received open and robot-assisted surgery, respectively. Compared with the open group, patients who underwent robot-assisted surgery were significantly younger (56.0 versus 60.1 years old), had a longer operative time (303 versus 224 min), and a lower kidney ischemic time (33.4 versus 46.9 min). Given similar tumor sizes, the tumor-to-excision ratio was significantly higher in the robot-assisted group (51.7% versus 39.8%), and the excisional volume loss (EVL) was smaller (12.7 versus 19.6 mL). Preoperative glomerular filtration rate and EVL were significant predictors of long-term renal function preservation in the multivariate analysis.Conclusion: When performing partial nephrectomy, a robot-assisted procedure could increase the accuracy of excision without increasing the risk of positive surgical margin. Lower EVL could assist in better long-term postoperative renal function preservation.Keywords: renal cell carcinoma, robotic-assisted system, partial nephrectomy, excisional volume loss, nephron sparing, renal function preservation

Keywords

• renal cell carcinoma
• robotic-assisted system
• partial nephrectomy
• excisional volume loss
• nephron sparing
• renal function preservation