Comparison of laparoscopic and percutaneous cryoablation of renal tumors: a cost analysis

Cryoablation of renal masses is an evolving in situ ablative technique for the management of localized renal masses and can be performed in a laparoscopic or percutaneous manner. Its usefulness is increasing and correlates with the increasing frequency of incidentally diagnosed renal lesions. At present, this technique has been applied to patients deemed to be poor surgical candidates for extirpative therapy or those with a strong desire to avoid surgery, at least until long-term data become available to fully evaluate its cancer-control effectiveness. In addition, as costs become an ever more critical factor in healthcare, the costs of various management options for clinically localized kidney cancer will become as important as clinical outcomes in deciding appropriate treatment. We compare laparoscopic and percutaneous renal cryoablation from a cost perspective. Our findings indicate that percutaneous renal cryoablation may have distinct cost advantages over its laparoscopic counterpart. It remains to be seen whether these differences will translate into an overall increase in reliance on the percutaneous approach for renal cryoablation.