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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Single Port Donor Nephrectomy
Published on: March 12, 2011
[Hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy in challenging cases]
P López Cubillana1, A Prieto González, J I Tornero Ruiz
1Servicio de Urología, Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, España.
Objective:
To assess the outcome of hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy in patients with significant complicating clinical factors.
Methods:
A retrospective assessment was made of 100 laparoscopic nephrectomies performed at a single hospital from 2001 to 2005. Patients with a history of prior abdominal surgery, prior procedures on the involved kidney, evidence of perirenal inflammation, renal lesions 10 cm or more in diameter, or level I renal vein thrombosis were enrolled.
Results:
Twelve patients were enrolled. Of these, 5 had a lesion at least 10 cm in diameter, 2 had renal vein thrombosis, and 5 reported major abdominal surgery. Most patients had more than one of these findings. Three patients showed inflammatory conditions (staghorn calculi) and a T4 renal tumor was successfully treated without conversion to open surgery. Mean operating time and blood loss were 210 minutes and 310 ml respectively, while mean length of hospital stay was 3 days. No patient required conversion to open surgery.
Conclusions:
Hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy is an attractive minimally invasive option for technically challenging tumors and has reasonable operating times, blood losses, and complication rates.
