Do statin medications impact renal functional or oncologic outcomes for robot-assisted partial nephrectomy?

To evaluate if statin medications (3-hydroxyl-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A [HMG-CoA] reductase inhibitors) improve either oncologic or renal functional outcomes for patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RPN).

Patients undergoing RPN between March 2008 and October 2013 were evaluated from a prospectively maintained database for statin usage. The rate of perioperative acute kidney injury (AKI), as defined according to the RIFLE criteria, and the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) were compared between users and nonusers. Oncologic outcomes and rate of progression were compared between users and nonusers.

One hundred four (31%) of 339 patients were on statin therapy preoperatively and continued this medication peri- and postoperatively. Statin patients were older and had higher rates of comorbidities, including coronary artery disease, diabetes, and hypertension (p<0.0001 for all).The rate of AKI in the statin (16%) and nonstatin patients (14%) (p=0.60) and CKD progression based on Kaplan-Meier estimates (p=0.57) were similar between both the groups. Subgroup analysis of the 271 (80%) patients with hilar clamping also had similar rates of AKI, in statin users 10% vs 12% in nonusers (p=0.50). Multivariate analysis of factors affecting CKD progression confirmed these findings. Oncologic progression was not affected by statin therapy (p=0.90).

Statin medications do not appear to influence perioperative renal function following RPN, in either clamped or unclamped procedures. Continuation of these medications may be continued perioperatively, but any effect on renal functional or oncologic outcomes was not elucidated in this study.