Kidney Cancer Surgery

During this procedure, the surgeon uses an operating telescope and places thin, specialized instruments in the abdomen through three to four keyhole incisions, each only 1 cm. The surgeon temporarily interrupts the blood supply to the kidney to allow for tumor removal without too much bleeding. The surgeon then carefully separates the tumor from the kidney, called dissection. The surgeon repairs the kidney then uses instruments to place the tumor inside a retrieval bag and removes the bag through one of the incisions.

The typical hospital stay is two days. You likely can resume normal eating as you recover the first day after surgery or soon after. Your care team manages your postoperative pain with an IV pump that you control. After the first day, your care team removes the pump and you’ll get pain medication in pill form. Learn more about spending time in the hospital at BIDMC.

A urinary catheter is left in place for two days after surgery, and then a member of your care team removes it. Your surgeon places a small drain in the area of the kidney, and a member of your care team usually removes it the second day after surgery.

When you leave the hospital, your doctor will give you a prescription for pain pills to last several days. After that, most people can manage their pain using over-the-counter acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Most people can return to full activity within four to six weeks, compared with an eight- to 12-week recovery for open, radical nephrectomy.

Robotic Partial Nephrectomy Follow-Up Care

You’ll follow up with your surgeon one month after surgery for a routine visit. 

After one or two years, you’ll need a CT scan of the kidney. This allows us to see if the tumor returned. You’ll have follow-up visits with us to discuss those results. If you live outside the Boston area or outside the country, we can schedule to have these visits over the phone.

You will be fully asleep under general anesthesia for this procedure. The surgeon makes three to five tiny incisions (0.5 cm to 1 cm in size) in the abdomen. We then place trocars (cylindrical tubes) through the incisions and into the abdominal cavity, allowing us to insert the laparoscope. Next, we inject carbon dioxide through one of the incisions. This enlarges the cavity and separates the abdominal wall from other organs.

The surgeon uses a laparoscopic camera during the procedure. This magnifies the view, making it possible to identify vessels and structures more clearly than in open surgery.

The surgeon then inserts thin surgical instruments. The surgeon clips the ureter and vessels that carry blood to and from the kidney. The surgeon then frees the kidney from surrounding structures, extracts the kidney and removes it through one of the incisions. The surgical team closes and sutures (stitches) the wounds.

Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy controls cancer equally as well as traditional, open surgery. The typical hospital stay is two days. You’ll start a clear liquid diet the day after surgery and a regular diet on the second day.

A urinary catheter is left in place for one day after the surgery, then a member of your care team removes it. You control your pain medication through an IV pump. After the first day, your care team removes the pump, and you get pain medication in pill form.

When you leave the hospital, your doctor will give you a prescription for pain pills to last several days. After that, most people can manage their pain using over-the-counter acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Most patients are able to return to full activity within three to four weeks, compared with eight to 12 weeks recovery for open, radical nephrectomy.

Laparoscopic Radical Nephrectomy Follow-Up Care

You’ll follow up with your surgeon one month after the operation for a routine visit. If you live outside the Boston area, we can arrange for these visits to take place over the phone.

You’ll be fully asleep under general anesthesia for this procedure. The surgeon makes three to five tiny incisions (half an inch each) in the abdomen. We then place trocars (cylindrical tubes) through the incisions and into the abdominal cavity, allowing us to insert the laparoscope. Next, the surgeon injects carbon dioxide through one of the incisions. This enlarges the cavity and separates the abdominal wall from other organs.

The surgeon uses a laparoscopic camera during the procedure. This provides a magnified view, making it possible to identify vessels and structures more clearly than in open surgery.

The surgeon inserts the surgical instruments and clips the vessels that carry blood to and from the kidney. The surgeon frees the kidney and ureter from surrounding structures, extracts them and removes them through an incision (usually about 3 inches) in the lower abdomen. The surgical team then closes the wounds with dissolvable sutures.

Robotic-assisted laparoscopic nephroureterectomy controls cancer equally as well as the traditional open procedure. The typical hospital stay is two days. You’ll start on a clear liquid diet the day after surgery and on a regular diet on the second day.

You control your pain medication through an IV pump. After the first day, your care team removes the pump, and you get pain medication in pill form. You’ll have a urinary catheter (tube that drains urine) in place for one week after surgery.

When you leave the hospital, your doctor will give you a prescription for pain pills to last several days. After that, most people can manage their pain using over-the-counter acetaminophen or ibuprofen. You can expect to return to full activity within three to four weeks, compared to eight to 12 weeks for open, radical nephrectomy.

Robotic Nephroureterectomy Follow-Up Care

You’ll follow up with your surgeon one month after the operation for a routine visit. If you live outside the Boston area, you can typically have this visit over the phone.