Robotic partial nephrectomy: our first 30 consecutive cases

We present our initial outcomes of robotic assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) at our centre. All data were collected prospectively. The transperitoneal approach was used in all our cases. The clinical parameters recorded include warm ischemia time (WIT), clampless procedures, estimated blood loss (EBL), operative time, length of stay (LOS) and oncological outcomes including positive surgical margins (PSM). The Clavien−Dindo system was used for grading complications. Thirty patients with a mean age of 56.7 years (ranging between 25 and 81 years) underwent RPN between January 2010 and November 2013. The mean tumour size was 2.48 cm (range, 1.3−5.5 cm) of which 54 % were right renal tumours ( n = 16) and 46 % ( n = 14) were left renal tumours. The mean operative time was 217.5 min (170−260 min) and the mean console time was 164.3 min (120−210 min). The mean EBL was 140.2 ml (10−1,500 ml) and the mean WIT was 16.1 min (0−34 min). Ten percent of patients ( n = 3) underwent clampless RPN and no postoperative transfusion was required. The mean LOS was 4 days (3−9) and only one patient (3 %) had positive surgical margins (PSM). The incidence of major complications was 3 % (one patient) who had a DVT following surgery (3 %). Our preliminary results show that RALPN is a safe technique with minimal complications. Longer follow-up and larger patient numbers are required to validate these results further.