Intraoperative thrombus embolization during nephrectomy and tumor thrombectomy: critical analysis of the University of California-Los Angeles experience.

Purpose: Vascular invasion commonly occurs in renal cell carcinoma and intraoperative thrombus embolization is a known complication of tumor thrombectomy. We reviewed our experience with this complication to determine frequency, mortality, common factors and management strategies.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed a prospective database of cases of open nephrectomy/tumor thrombectomy performed from 1989 to 2008.