Purpose: To describe our initial experience of "off-clamp, non-renorrhaphy" laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (OCNR-LPN) with perirenal fat and Gerota's fascia reapproximation technique.
Patients and methods: Between August 2012 and March 2013, 24 consecutive patients underwent OCNR-LPN at our institution. After the renal mass excision, biologic hemostatics such as FLOSEAL™ and TISSEEL™ (both from Baxter Healthcare Corp., Deerfield, IL) were used, and the perirenal fat and Gerota's fascia were sutured for reapproximation.
Results: All 24 consecutive patients underwent OCNR-LPN successfully. The warm ischemic time for all cases was 0 minute. Thirteen patients were noted to have a low (4-6) RENAL nephrometry score (RNS), and 11 patients had a moderate (7-9) RNS. The mean tumor size among this cohort was 2.9 (range, 1.2-6.0) cm, and the mean estimated blood loss was 243 (range, 50-700) mL. The mean hospital stay was 6.9 (range, 5-10) days. The mean percentage of postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate change increased by 0.9%. No positive surgical margins were noted, and 2 patients with Grade III complication by the Clavien-Dindo classification were treated by endoscopic or radiological intervention.
Conclusions: OCNR-LPN with the perirenal fat and Gerota's fascia reapproximation technique is feasible. Our initial experience with OCNR-LPN demonstrates encouraging results of minimal renal function loss and complications.