Laparoscopic Kidney Removal Easier on Patients

Jackson, Miss. - July 2, 2003 - From playing football to working in oil fields, back pains were nothing new for Bo Callender. In February 2003, Callendar, who is now a mobile cardiac unit and transport nurse at Baptist Medical Center, had a back pain that wouldn't go away. After seeing a physician and having tests run, radiologist Dr. Tim Usey found a mass on Callender's left kidney.

"It was then confirmed by a pathology report that I had renal cell carcinoma. Dr. Usey referred me to Dr. Renfroe," said Callender. "Dr. Renfroe explained my options and told me about a relatively new procedure called laparoscopic nephrectomy."

Land Renfroe, M.D. with the Mississippi Urology Clinic in Jackson, Miss. has performed more than 60 laparoscopic nephrectomies (kidney removal) at Baptist Medical Center. Upon reviewing the cases, Dr. Renfroe believes this minimally invasive surgery is as effective as the standard procedure for removing cancerous kidneys. Dr. Renfroe is one of few urologists in the Southeast United States performing the procedure.

"The benefits of the laparoscopic approach are similar to laparoscopic removal of the gall bladder and include decreased patient pain, more rapid recovery and decreased post-op narcotic requirements. Also, the hospital stay and return to normal activity is done in at least half the time as with traditional open surgery," Dr. Renfroe.

Callendar had his surgery on May 8, 2003. The next day, he was at home on his couch.

"I started my career working in an Intensive Care Unit over twenty years ago. I used to see patients that had kidney removal procedures. They would be in the ICU for a couple of days. Then, they were in the hospital for at least 10 days after that," Callender added. "Within a week and a half, I was back to normal after my procedure."

Traditionally, surgeons removed diseased kidneys through an 8- to15 inch long incision and occasionally removed a rib. The laparoscopic approach permits the surgeon to make two to three quarter inch incisions to insert the laparoscopic tools and another incision, about three to three and a half inches long, for kidney removal. This also improves the cosmetic aspect of the surgery.

"By removing either benign or malignant diseased kidneys through laparoscopic surgery, it saves the patient from a lot of pain and time in the hospital," Dr. Renfroe added.

Dr. Renfroe stated that hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy is best suited to tumors approximately one to four inches large. He adds that hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy can always be converted to the traditional surgery if a tumor proves too large to remove laparoscopically.

"This was like slicing bread," Callender said. "I am still amazed at how easy this was. I was just a little sore where the incision was. From the time I found out 'You've got cancer,' until the time I returned back to work, it was probably about a month. So this is truly amazing."

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