Evaluating the impact of resident involvement during the laparoscopic nephrectomy

Laparoscopic nephrectomy (LN) is the most performed laparoscopic procedure by urologic residents (Res). A large amount of data exists on laparoscopic nephrectomies in terms of safety and surgical outcomes, but only a little is known about the influence of residents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate this influence on the clinical outcome of a laparoscopic nephrectomy.

Retrospectively, patients who had undergone a LN between 2010 and 2018 were assessed. Data included patient demographics, date of surgery, pre- and postoperative results and complications. The patients who had undergone a LN were divided into two groups: one where residents were involved and another group where only a staff surgeon (Sur) performed the operation. All training residents had a questionnaire sent to them to evaluate their role during the LN.

A total of 229 patients met the study criteria, of which 78 patients were operated together with a resident and 151 by a staff surgeon alone. Both groups were homogeneous in terms of age, comorbidities, left/right sided LN and tumor-stage. Between these two groups, no significant differences were observed in median estimated blood loss (Res 87 ml vs. Sur 100 ml), intraoperative adverse events (Res 10.3% vs. Sur 6% p = 0.24), conversion to open surgery (Res 6.4% vs. Sur 6%) and high-grade postoperative complications (Res 3.9% vs. Sur 4.6%). However, when a resident participated, the LN lasted on average 20 minutes longer (Res mean 130 min vs. Sur 110 min p ≤0.001).

Our data shows that involvement of a resident in laparoscopic nephrectomy has no effect on the clinical outcome. Therefore, it is safe to perform a laparoscopic nephrectomy together with a resident, but it is important to take the additional surgical time into account.