Long-term oncologic outcomes of hand-assisted retroperitoneoscopic radical nephrectomy to treat clinically localized renal cell carcinoma.

Background/purpose: To evaluate the long-term oncological outcomes of hand-assisted retroperitoneoscopic radical nephrectomy (HARRN) for treating clinically localized renal cell carcinoma.

Methods: We retrospectively collected and analyzed the data and clinical outcomes of 46 patients who underwent HARRN and 50 patients who underwent conventional open radical nephrectomy (ORN) at our institution for clinical localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Results: The median follow-up period of the HARRN group was 56.5 months (range: 14.6-78.7 months); for the ORN group, the median follow-up period was 110.8 months (range: 15.5-123 months). Patient age, sex, body mass index, pathologic parameters, and classification based on the guidelines of the American Society of Anesthesiologists were not significantly different between the two groups. The HARRN group had a significantly longer operative time (218 minutes vs. 178 minutes, p = 0.003) and less blood loss (203 mL vs. 670 mL, p < 0.001). The complication rates of the ORN and HARRN groups were similar (8% and 4.3%, respectively, p = 0.46). No conversions to an open procedure or intraoperative mortality occurred in the HARRN group. The disease-free and disease-specific survival rates were comparable between the two groups.

Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that HARRN is a feasible, minimally invasive treatment for managing clinically organ-confined RCC with a good long-term oncological outcome.