CO2 laser in surgery of the renal parenchyma. A preliminary report.

The experiences of renal parenchymal surgery performed by CO2 laser knife are reported. A short surgery is given of the preliminaries of the use of CO2 laser in urological practice and of the biological effects of the laser beam. The coagulating effect of the laser beam in the cases of nephrotomy, polar resection, heminephrectomy, adrenal resection and of cavernotomy was studied and the incision time of the parenchyma measured. The amount of blood lost comparing with that during traditional operative techniques, was found to be essentially smaller. It is stressed that, in some cases, the compression of the renal peduncle could be avoided. Favourable experiences were obtained with interventions on an inflamed renal substance. This paper has been intended to be a preliminary report, with the detailed histological and isotope functional examinations to be presented later.