Nephrectomy

Recommended For Nephrectomy

Candidates of nephrectomy include patients who have kidney cancer (mostly early stages) and those who are willing to donate their kidney.

Not Recommended For Nephrectomy

Patients who are suffering from kidney cancer and who are at the late stages may not benefit from the nephrectomy. Rather they might be suitable for the treatments of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Number Of Trips Abroad

1

Duration Of Operation

Up to 3 hours

Overview

Nephrectomy is a medical procedure of removing the kidney either completely or partially.  Even though nephrectomy is often performed for patients who are suffering from kidney cancer, it can be performed for kidney donation as well. Over the years, nephrectomy procedure has changed.Classical, abdominal nephrectomy can be performed for the patients as well as laparoscopic nephrectomy.

Preparation

Patients who will have a nephrectomy operation should inform their surgeons about the illnesses they have and medications they have been using so that surgeons can be prepared properly for the operation and may tell you to stop using some of the medicines you have been taking.

How It Is Performed

Nephrectomy can be performed in different ways according to the patient's medical condition, and the reason surgery is being conducted. Nephrectomy surgery can be performed in two different techniques:

• Laparoscopic nephrectomy -in most of the medical conditions, laparoscopic nephrectomy is thought to be the best one. With the use of laparoscopy, surgeons make several small cuts in the abdomen rather than a single big one. This way, the recovery period from the surgery shortens, and the patient experiences less pain.

• Abdominal nephrectomy – in this method, surgeons make a big incision in the abdomen; it is the classical way of removing the kidney.

In addition, kidney removal can be performed in two different ways in terms of scopes:

• Total nephrectomy (or radical nephrectomy) –This is a procedure of total kidney removal. Surrounding tissue might be removed as well in the cases of kidney cancer.
• Partial nephrectomy – in this procedure, only the part of the kidney is removed.

Recovery

Depending on the type of nephrectomy being performed, recovery time differs (laparoscopic or abdominal nephrectomy procedure).Nephrectomy post-op care includes a temporary presence of a caterer and fighting with pain with the use of painkillers.

Risks

Even though nephrectomy is believed to be a safe procedure. Still, there might be some complications involved. Complications may involve infection, damage to kidneys, which may also cause kidney failure and excessive bleeding. However, these complications do not occur often.

Side Effects

After the nephrectomy, either performed as a treatment of kidney cancer or as a kidney donation, patients can live a normal life.There are no innate side effects of nephrectomy procedure.

Success Rates

The success rate of nephrectomy surgery is highly dependent on the scope of the surgery. When performed for kidney donation, nephrectomy has a very high success rate.In a similar situation are patients with early stages of kidney cancer, whose large majority (70-80%) lives more than 5 years after kidney removal surgery.

Faq

-What Is Nephrectomy? 
Nephrectomy is a medical operation for the removal of the kidney. It can be performed as a treatment for kidney cancer or for a kidney donation.

-What Is the Difference between Radical Nephrectomy and Partial Nephrectomy? 

In a radical nephrectomy, the kidney is removed completely while in partial nephrectomy a part of the kidney is removed.


-Are There Any Possible Nephrectomy Complications? 
There might be some complications involved, but nephrectomy is a safe operation. Some of the nephrectomy complications are an infection, damage to kidneys, and internal bleeding.

Back To Work

Up to 6 weeks

Back To Sports

Up to 6 weeks

Extra Content

This content is written and reviewed by our medical content team in August, 2019.