Abstract
Open partial nephrectomy for the treatment of small renal masses (SRMs) concerning for renal cell carcinoma has been increasingly utilized with the increased incidental detection of SRMs and the growing recognition of the benefits of renal preservation. Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is a minimally invasive technique that achieves comparable oncologic and improved morbidity outcomes when compared to the open procedure. However, LPN is a technically demanding procedure resulting in a long learning curve and a lack of widespread adoption. Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) overcomes many of the technical hurdles of the LPN and is now coming to the forefront for the minimally invasive surgical management of SRMs. To date, the short-term oncologic outcomes of RAPN have been comparable to the open operation while providing the improved morbidity outcomes of LPN. Although encouraging, we await the long-term oncologic results of this new and promising procedure. The current bottleneck is an issue of cost and reliance on a patient-side surgeon. Future developments in instrumentation, newer robots, cost reduction, more streamlined training, increased robotic experience, and adoption by more centers will lead to greater benefit for patients with SRMs requiring nephron-sparing surgery. This review will discuss techniques for RAPN and then delve into the current status of RAPN using parameters such as warm ischemia time, blood loss, hospital stay, oncological outcomes, complications, learning curve, and quality of life. There will be an exploration of potential disadvantages associated with RAPN followed by a look at evolving techniques in regard to this groundbreaking procedure.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Jemal A, Siegel R, Xu J et al (2010) Cancer statistics, 2010. CA Cancer J Clin 60:277–300
Ates F, Akyol I, Sildiroglu O et al (2010) Preoperative imaging in renal masses: does size on computed tomography correlate with actual tumor size? Int Urol Nephrol 42(4):861–866
Tsui KH, Shvarts O, Smith RB et al (2000) Renal cell carcinoma: prognostic significance of incidentally detected tumors. J Urol 163:426–430
Morrissey JJ, London AN, Luo J et al (2010) Urinary biomarkers for the early diagnosis of kidney cancer. Mayo Clin Proc 85:413–421
Huang WC, Levey AS, Serio AM et al (2006) Chronic kidney disease after nephrectomy in patients with renal cortical tumours: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Oncol 7:735–740
Uzzo RG, Novick AC (2001) Nephron sparing surgery for renal tumors: indications, techniques and outcomes. J Urol 166:6–18
Lerner SE, Hawkins CA, Blute ML et al (1996) Disease outcome in patients with low stage renal cell carcinoma treated with nephron sparing or radical surgery. J Urol 155:1868–1873
Mitchell RE, Gilbert SM, Murphy AM et al (2006) Partial nephrectomy and radical nephrectomy offer similar cancer outcomes in renal cortical tumors 4 cm or larger. Urology 67:260–264
Winfield HN, Donovan JF, Godet AS et al (1993) Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: initial case report for benign disease. J Endourol 7:521–526
McDougall EM, Clayman RV, Chandhoke PS et al (1993) Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in the pig model. J Urol 149:1633–1636
Nouralizadeh A, Simforoosh N, Tabibi A et al (2010) Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for tumours >4 cm compared with smaller tumours: perioperative results. Int Urol Nephrol. doi:10.1007/s11255-010-9812-x
Gill IS, Kavoussi LR, Lane BR et al (2007) Comparison of 1,800 laparoscopic and open partial nephrectomies for single renal tumors. J Urol 178:41–46
Gettman MT, Blute ML, Chow GK et al (2004) Robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: technique and initial clinical experience with DaVinci robotic system. Urology 64:914–918
Benway BM, Bhayani SB, Rogers CG et al (2009) Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for renal tumors: a multi-institutional analysis of perioperative outcomes. J Urol 182:866–872
Patel MN, Krane LS, Bhandari A et al (2010) Robotic partial nephrectomy for renal tumors larger than 4 cm. Eur Urol 57:310–316
Hemal AK (2011) Laparoscopic Retroperitoneal Extirpative and Reconstructive Renal Surgery. J Endourol. doi:10.1089/end.2010.0697
Kumar R, Hemal AK (2010) Retroperitoneal renal laparoscopy. Int Urol Nephrol. doi:10.1007/s11255-010-9882-9
Colli J, Martin B, Purcell M et al (2010) Surgical factors affecting return of renal function after partial nephrectomy. Int Urol Nephrol. doi:10.1007/s11255-010-9764-1
Scoll BJ, Uzzo RG, Chen DY et al (2010) Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: a large single-institutional experience. Urology 75:1328–1334
Kural AR, Atug F, Tufek I et al (2009) Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: comparison of outcomes. J Endourol 23:1491–1497
Wang AJ, Bhayani SB (2009) Robotic partial nephrectomy versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: single surgeon analysis of >100 consecutive procedures. Urology 73:306–310
Benway BM, Bhayani SB, Rogers CG et al (2010) Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: an international experience. Eur Urol 57:815–820
Yang CK, Chiu KY, Su CK et al (2009) Initial clinical experience with surgical technique of robot-assisted transperitoneal laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. J Chin Med Assoc 72:634–637
Caruso RP, Phillips CK, Kau E et al (2006) Robot assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: initial experience. J Urol 176:36–39
Haseebuddin M, Benway B, Cabello J et al (2010) Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: evaluation of learning curve for an experienced renal surgeon. J Endourol 24:57–61
Mottrie A, De Naeyer G, Schatteman P et al (2010) Impact of the learning curve on perioperative outcomes in patients who underwent robotic partial nephrectomy for parenchymal renal tumours. Eur Urol 58:127–133
Gratzke C, Seitz M, Bayrle F et al (2009) Quality of life and perioperative outcomes after retroperitoneoscopic radical nephrectomy (RN), open RN and nephron-sparing surgery in patients with renal cell carcinoma. BJU Int 104:470–475
Harryman OA, Davenport K, Keoghane S et al (2009) A comparative study of quality of life issues relating to open versus laparoscopic nephrectomy: a prospective pragmatic study. J Urol 181:998–1003
Kumar R, Hemal AK (2006) The ‘scrubbed surgeon’ in robotic surgery. World J Urol 24:144–147
Rogers CG, Laungani R, Bhandari A et al (2009) Maximizing console surgeon independence during robot-assisted renal surgery by using the fourth arm and tilepro. J Endourol 23:115–121
Gautam G, Benway BM, Bhayani SB et al (2009) Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: current perspectives and future prospects. Urology 74:735–740
Viprakasit DP, Altamar HO, Miller NL et al (2010) Selective renal parenchymal clamping in robotic partial nephrectomy: initial experience. Urology 76:750–753
Wu SD, Viprakasit DP, Cashy J et al (2010) Radiofrequency ablation-assisted robotic laparoscopic partial nephrectomy without renal hilar vessel clamping versus laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: a comparison of perioperative outcomes. J Endourol 24:385–391
White WM, Goel RK, Haber GP et al (2010) Robotic partial nephrectomy without renal hilar occlusion. BJU Int 105:1580–1584
Shingu C, Koga H, Hagiwara S et al (2010) Hydrogen-rich saline solution attenuates renal ischemia-reperfusion injury. J Anesth 24:569–574
Kaouk JH, White WM, Goel RK et al (2009) NOTES transvaginal nephrectomy: first human experience. Urology 74:5–8
Haber GP, Crouzet S, Kamoi K et al (2008) Robotic NOTES (natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery) in reconstructive urology: initial laboratory experience. Urology 71:996–1000
Phillips CK, Taneja SS, Stifelman MD (2005) Robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: the NYU technique. J Endourol 19:441–445
Ho HS, Peschel R, Neururer R et al (2008) Another novel application of Hem-o-Lok clips for transient vascular occlusion in robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: an alternative to laparoscopic bulldog and satinsky clamps. J Endourol 22:1677–1680
Rogers CG, Menon M, Weise ES et al (2008) Robotic partial nephrectomy: a multiinstitutional analysis. J Robotic Surg 2:141–143
Aron M, Koenig P, Kaouk JH et al (2008) Robotic and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: a matched-pair comparison from a high-volume centre. BJU Int 102:86–92
Deane LA, Lee HJ, Box GN et al (2008) Robotic versus standard laparoscopic partial/wedge nephrectomy: a comparison of intraoperative and perioperative results from a single institution. J Endourol 22:947–952
Michli EE, Parra RO (2009) Robotic-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy: initial clinical experience. Urology 73:302–305
Gong Y, Du C, Josephson DY et al (2010) Four-arm robotic partial nephrectomy for complex renal cell carcinoma. World J Urol 28:111–115
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Babbar, P., Hemal, A.K. Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy: current status, techniques, and future directions. Int Urol Nephrol 44, 99–109 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-011-9900-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-011-9900-6