Renal artery injury during robot-assisted renal surgery

Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) is becoming the standard of care for incidentally diagnosed, small renal tumors. With its seven degrees of freedom and three-dimensional vision, the DaVinci robotic surgical system has been used to assist in LPNs. The main disadvantage of robot-assisted surgery, however, is the lack of tactile feedback. We present a case of renal artery injury during robot-assisted renal surgery. Robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN) was planned for 47-year-old man with a 3.5-cm right renal mass. After standard bowel mobilization, renal hilar dissection was performed. In the attempt to complete the dissection posteriorly, however, there was sudden profuse bleeding. The intraperitoneal pressure immediately increased to 20 mm Hg, and an additional suction device was inserted through the 5-mm liver retractor port. On inspection, there was an injury at the takeoff of the posterior segmental artery. A decision was made to convert to robot-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy. The main renal artery and renal vein were controlled with Hem-o-Lok clips. The estimated blood loss was 2,000 mL. Four units of packed red blood cells were transfused intraoperatively. The post-transfusion hemoglobin level was 12.6 g/dL. There were no other perioperative complications. The surgeon should keep in mind that the robotic arms are very powerful and can easily injure major vessels because of lack of tactile feedback. A competent and experienced tableside surgeon is very important in robot-assisted surgery because the unsterile console surgeon cannot immediately react to intraoperative complications.