Abstract
PURPOSE: In this study, we described our initial experience and analyze the learning curve of segmental renal artery branch clamping with hand-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (PN) using special instruments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of consecutive cases of hand-assisted laparoscopic PN (LPN) between May 2015 and April 2018. Patient demographics, tumor characteristics, perioperative details, postoperative complications, and warm ischemic time for segmental artery branch clamping were included in our analysis. We used the cumulative sum (CUSUM) method to generate learning curves. RESULTS: Segmental renal artery branch clamping was successfully completed in 16 of 20 patients. The median tumor size was 2.9 cm (range, 1.7-7.0 cm), median operation time was 185 minutes (range, 140-245 minutes), median blood loss was 291 mL (range, 100-600 mL), and median hospital stay was 5 days (range, 4-7 days). The median selective ischemic time was 21 minutes (range, 16-35 minutes). No patient had postoperative complications, acute or delayed bleeding. The median pre- and postoperative serum creatinine levels (0.91 and 0.98 mg/dL, respectively), and the pre- and postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (89.7 and 79.6 mL/min per 1.73 m(2), respectively) were similar. Upon visual assessment of the CUSUM plots, a downward inflection point for decreasing total operation time was observed in the 9th case and estimated blood loss in the 12th case. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that segmental renal artery branch clamping hand-assisted LPN for localized renal tumors is feasible, safe, and has a relatively short learning curve.