Dubai’s Mediclinic City Hospital Performs Successful Kidney Sparing Surgeries

Conducting complex robotic surgical procedures successfully is a rarity, with only a few centers equipped to handle such demanding tasks.

In cases of kidney cancers, robotic surgical excision emerges as the optimal approach for achieving effective cancer control. This procedure involves either total removal, known as radical nephrectomy, or selectively removing the renal tumor while preserving normally functioning kidney tissue, referred to as nephron-sparing surgery or partial nephrectomy. The challenge intensifies when dealing with renal cancer in individuals with a single kidney, where preserving the kidney’s normal function becomes crucial. In such cases, nephron-sparing surgery becomes the sole modality.

Around 1-2% of the population possesses only one kidney, either from birth or due to later loss caused by factors like cancer, trauma, kidney stones, or other reasons. Managing a tumor in a solitary kidney poses a formidable challenge, aiming not only to eradicate cancer but also to safeguard enough kidney function to prevent the need for dialysis. Dr. Mudhar Hasan, consultant robotic urologist, and head of the urology department at Mediclinic City Hospital, led and performed these surgeries, highlighting the difficulty, stating, “Tumor in a solitary kidney is one of our biggest challenges as we have to remove cancer but also aim to save enough kidney to allow patients to stay off dialysis.”

During these surgeries, the usual practice involves temporarily closing the blood supply to the kidney by clamping the blood vessels. However, in an effort to preserve maximum kidney tissue, the surgical team operated swiftly without clamping the vessels, minimizing damage caused by the temporary interruption of the blood supply.

Post-surgery, patients exhibited remarkable and smooth recovery, with adequate urine output and no need for dialysis, indicating a well-functioning kidney. Although patients’ creatinine levels initially rose after surgery, they rapidly normalized within a few days, returning to pre-surgery levels.

Mediclinic City Hospital is committed to delivering a high level of surgical expertise and utilizing the latest technology to serve patients effectively.