Laparoscopic suture-free partial nephrectomy using argon-beam-coagulator: Surgical technique and outcomes of a single-center, open-label randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether argon-beam-coagulation (ABC) suture-free technique results in more favorable renal function than conventional suture technique after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

Methods: This study was a single-center, open-label randomized controlled study. A total of 32 patients with T1a renal tumor and R.E.N.A.L score ≤7 were recruited. The primary endpoint of the study was the absolute variation of the ipsilateral split renal function (SRF) at 12 months. The following secondary endpoints were addressed: the 1, 3, 6, and 12-months variation of eGFR; the 1, 3, 6-months variation of SRF; perioperative outcomes (including operative time, warm ischemia time, time to hemostasis, blood loss).

Results: The suture-free group had a significantly shorter operative time (90.4 ± 22.0 minutes vs. 117.8 ± 23.5 minutes, p = 0.003) and warm ischemia time (9.6 ± 4.7 minutes vs. 21.3 ± 8.3 minutes, p < 0.001) than the suture group. At the last follow-up, the change of ipsilateral SRF was 7.5 ± 5.1 ml/min for the suture-free group and 13.1 ± 6.7 ml/min for the suture group (p = 0.014). The change of eGFR demonstrated a similar trend (5.5 ± 4.4 ml/min vs. 12.6 ± 6.0 ml/min, p=0.001). Multivariate linear analysis confirmed that suture-free technique was associated with a less decrease of renal function.

Conclusions: Suture-free partial nephrectomy is a feasible technique for T1a renal masses and benefits long-term SRF and eGFR compared to conventional procedure.