CANCUN, MEXICO (UroToday.com) - Coverage of the 25th Annual World Congress of Endourology and SWL - Cancun, Mexico - Friday, November 2^nd, 2007

The UC Irvine group presented a comparative study of one surgeon’s first 11 robotic assisted laparoscopic partial/wedge nephrectomies vs 11 consecutive standard laparoscopic partial/wedge nephrectomies performed by two expert laparoscopic renal surgeons at the same institution. Of note there was no statistically significant difference between the groups when tumor size, estimated blood loss, warm ischemia time, total procedure time, fall in hematocrit and length of hospital stay were analyzed. Though a small number of patients in each group, these results suggest that the learning curve for advanced renal robotic procedures such as partial nephrectomy may indeed be shortened. This may facilitate more surgeons without an extensive experience in laparoscopic reconstructive procedures to incorporate partial nephrectomy into practice by using the robotic interface. The caveat is, however, the necessity for prior extensive experience in robotic procedures (the robotic surgeon in this study had performed > 200 radical prostatectomies) and the need for a skilled bedside assistant well versed in the nuances not only of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy but also in open partial nephrectomy.

Session: Laparoscopy: Kidney: Partial Nephrectomy II
Moderators: Li-Ming Su (USA), Jihad H. Kaouk (USA)
Leslie Deane, Hak Lee, Geoffrey Box, Ori Melamud , David Yee, Jose Benito Abraham, David Finley, James Borin, Elspeth McDougall, Ralph Clayman, Ralph Clayman, David Ornstein

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