We aim to offer a description of the surgical technique and to review the current state retroperitoneal robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (rRAPN).
Partial nephrectomy is the standard treatment for localized kidney tumours. rRAPN is especially useful for kidney tumours of posterior location. It offers advantages such as direct access to the renal artery and no need for bowel mobilization. The disadvantages are the small working space and the less familiar anatomical landmarks. It is a reproducible technique that achieves similar oncological and functional results to the more traditional transperitoneal route (tRAPN). High-quality randomized studies are needed to ascertain the role of new technologies as modern high-flow insufflation systems, intracavitary ultrasound, 3D planning, and augmented reality (AR), in the performance of this operation. rRAPN is especially useful for kidney tumours of posterior location. Robotic surgeons ideally should become familiar with both approaches, transperitoneal or retroperitoneal.
Current urology reports. 2021 May 20*** epublish ***
Moises Rodríguez Socarrás, Javier Reinoso Elbers, Juan Gómez Rivas, Ana Maria Autran, Francesco Esperto, Leonardo Tortolero, Diego Carrion, Fernando Gómez Sancha
Instituto de Cirugía Urológica Avanzada (ICUA) - Clínica CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain. ., Instituto de Cirugía Urológica Avanzada (ICUA) - Clínica CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain., Oficina de Investigacion CAU (Confederacion Americana de Urologia), Madrid, Spain., Deparment of Urology, Campus-Biomédico University, Rome, Italy., Deparment of Urology, IMED Hospitales, Benidorm, Spain.