Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and inferior vena cava thrombectomy: A multicentre Indian experience

To assess feasibility of robot-assisted laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (RALRN) and inferior vena cava thrombectomy (IVCT) in treating renal tumours with level I-III IVC thrombi and to assess their outcomes.

We conducted a retrospective analysis of RALRN-IVCTs, involving four centres across India, from September 2015 to June 2019. We analysed patients who underwent RALRN-IVCT for level I-III thrombi according to the Mayo classification. The total operative duration with console time, length of hospital stay, preoperative and postoperative creatinine, IVC clamp time and intraoperative blood loss were recorded.

Of the 13 patients that underwent RALRN-IVCT, five had a level I thrombus, seven had level II, and one had a level III thrombus. In all, 11 of the patients had right-sided tumours and the remaining two had left-sided tumours. The mean (SD) age of the patients was 56.5 (12.3) years, the mean (SD) operative time was 329.5 (97.22) min, the mean (SD) console time was 222.5 (70) min, the mean (SD) blood loss was 395 (170) mL, and the mean (SD) IVC clamp time was 19.14 (9.5) min. The mean (SD) length of hospital stay was 7.8 (3.27) days. Of the 13 patients, 12 had clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and one had papillary RCC. The mean (range) follow-up was 19 (4-50) months. One patient had upfront metastasis and two patients developed metastasis, while 10 patients remained disease-free during the follow-up.

With appropriate patient selection, surgical planning and robotic experience, completely intracorporeal robotic level I-III IVCT is feasible and can be performed efficiently. Larger experiences, with longer follow-ups and comparisons with open surgery are needed to confirm these initial outcomes.

ECOG: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; IVC: inferior vena cava; IVCT: inferior vena cava thrombectomy; (RAL)RN: (robot-assisted laparoscopic) radical nephrectomy.