UROLOGICAL SURVEY   ( Download pdf )

 

ENDOUROLOGY & LAPAROSCOPY

Current Concepts in Achieving Renal Hypothermia during Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy
Ramani AP, Ryndin I, Lynch AC, Veetil RT
Section of Laparoscopic Surgery, Department of Urology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
BJU Int. 2006; 97: 342-4

  • Objectives: To review current methods of renal hypothermia during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.
  • Methods: Review paper describing different methods of renal hypothermia during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, including laparoscopic ice-slush, endoscopic retrograde cold saline infusion, transarterial renal hypothermia, laparoscopic cooling sheath and ancillary techniques for ischemic renoprotection.
  • Conclusion: Renal hypothermia is occasionally required during current laparoscopic renal procedures. Of the various techniques available to achieve laparoscopic renal hypothermia, the surface hypothermia achieved with ice-slush, although cumbersome, duplicates open surgical time-tested principles and is currently the preferred option. Better delivery systems for hypothermic solutions are needed for optimum uniform cooling of the kidney.

  • Editorial Comment
    This paper reviews the different methods of renal hypothermia during laparoscopic partial nephrectomy and succinctly discusses the renal physiology of hypothermia and protective mechanisms from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Not all methods have been established yet. Recent published large series of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy from different institutions have demonstrated that renal functions, as well as, oncological outcomes are comparable to open series without the need of renal hypothermia. Although ablative and reconstructive laparoscopic surgery have been growing and developing fast, fundamental questions remain unanswered; i.e. the optimal method to prevent renal ischemia-reperfusion injury when performing laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

Dr. Fernando J. Kim
Chief of Urology, Denver Health Med Ctr
Assistant Professor, Univ Colorado Health Sci Ctr
Denver, Colorado, USA