Partial nephrectomy without hilar control or cooling: longitudinal data over 5 years.
BACKGROUND
Partial nephrectomy for the management of small renal masses has become a well accepted technique. Contemporary series have shown its safety and efficacy in well selected patients. We present our experience of partial nephrectomies exclusively without hilar control or parenchymal cooling stratified into imperative and elective patients.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed our experience in 124 patients who underwent partial nephrectomy between December 1995 and September 2003. Patients were followed with regular radiographic and laboratory studies at 6 months postsurgery and then annually. Renal function was followed by serum creatinine.


RESULTS
Of the 124 patients, 105 were performed without hilar control or renal cooling and met our criteria for analysis. The operation was elective in 78 patients (74%) and imperative in 27 patients (26%). Mean specimen size was 2.8 cm for elective cases and 3.3 cm for imperative cases. The mean estimated blood loss was 606 533 cc and 950 656 cc in elective and imperative cases respectively. Surgical margins were positive in 6.6% with an overall recurrence rate of 3.8%. At a mean follow up time of 31 months and 23 months in the elective and imperative groups respectively, there were no statistically significant differences between baseline and follow up serum creatinine levels in either elective or imperative cases at time intervals of 0-12, 13-24, 25-48 and > 48 months. The intraoperative complication rate was 5.7% and the postoperative complication rate was 4.7% including three patients requiring blood transfusions.


CONCLUSIONS
Partial nephrectomy without hilar control or renal cooling is a safe and reliable method of removing small renal tumors. In this cohort, intraoperative blood loss is slightly higher than historical series. However, blood transfusion rates, complications, renal function and oncologic outcomes are comparable to historical series of patients in whom vascular control and renal cooling are used.
Department of Urology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
Anthony T
AT
Corcoran
Matthew H
MH
Hayn
Erin P
EP
Gibbons
Ryan
R
Mori
Ronald
R
Hrebinko
Benjamin J
BJ
Davies
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D000075202:Contraindications; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D003404:Creatinine