Bovine serum albumin glutaraldehyde for completely sutureless laparoscopic heminephrectomy in a survival porcine model.

Introduction: Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) has not received widespread clinical application because of its technical challenge. Bovine serum albumin glutaraldehyde (BSAG) is a hemostatic agent that is independent of the clotting cascade. We evaluated the use of BSAG as the sole agent for parenchymal and collecting system closure during LPN in a survival porcine model.

NOTES: Education and training.

The concept of minimally invasive surgery has gained widespread acceptance because of significant reduction in the patient postoperative morbidity that is associated with these surgical procedures. Natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) could theoretically maximize the advantages of minimally invasive surgery by performing intra-abdominal surgery in an "incisionless" manner. NOTES requires a new surgical skill set that would need to be taught to urologists to ensure its safe implementation.

The UCI Seldinger technique for percutaneous renal cryoablation: protecting the tract and achieving hemostasis.

Purpose: To describe our Seldinger technique of percutaneous renal cryoablation that was devised to facilitate renal biopsy, cryoprobe placement, and instillation of adjunctive hemostatics while protecting surrounding tissues from cryoinjury.

Patients And Methods: This approach was used to manage 13 renal masses in 12 adult patients. Under CT-fluoroscopic guidance, an access needle was inserted to abut the surface of the tumor, followed by an Amplatz super-stiff guidewire and a customized coaxial catheter system, which was used as a conduit for needle biopsy, cryoprobe insertion, and FloSeal instillation.

Long-term impact of a robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy mini fellowship training program on postgraduate urological practice patterns.

Purpose: Robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy has stimulated a great deal of interest among urologists. We evaluated whether a mini fellowship for robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy would enable postgraduate urologists to incorporate this new procedure into clinical practice.

Materials And Methods: From July 2003 to July 2006, 47 urologists participated in the robot assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy mini fellowship program.

Rapid communication: robot-assisted NOTES nephrectomy: initial report.

Background And Purpose: Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) using the daVinci robot (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) has never been applied to urologic surgery. Here we present our initial experience with a combined transvaginal and transcolonic, single-port, robot-assisted NOTES nephrectomy.

Methods: An acute experiment was performed in a female farm pig.