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For the first time in the world, doctors have succeeded in extracting the kidney of a sick patient, treating it, and then re-implanting it. The operation took place at the Toulouse University Hospital.
It is a world first. Last September, a 68-year-old patient with kidney cancer benefited from a completely innovative surgical technique at the University Hospital Center (CHU) in Toulouse. His kidney was extracted and then processed out of his body by robot-assisted.
This patient was diagnosed in October 2021 with 6 cancerous tumours, of low aggressiveness, on the left kidney and 4 on the right kidney.
Treated in interventional radiology for percutaneous thermal ablation of both kidneys (ablation of tumors by a heat source introduced through the skin), she had seen the tumors of her right kidney disappear but on the left kidney, only 3 of the 6 tumors had been able to be treated for reasons of accessibility and the ureter had been damaged (thermal lesion) which had made it necessary to divert the urine through the skin (nephrostomy – urinary bag).
In addition, as the three remaining tumors continued to expand, the surgical team came up with an innovative technique.
An unprecedented operation to save the patient’s kidney
During this operation, the surgeons behind this feat – Dr Nicolas Doumerc and Thomas Prudhomme – extracted the patient’s kidney using robot-assisted surgery, then removed the three previously inaccessible tumors. in “back table”, that is to say on a table next to the patient.
They then reintroduced the kidney”through the same incision in the patient’s abdomen” and grafted it a little lower in his abdomen.
This 3-step surgery (nephrectomy by robotics, operation on the table and robotic transplantation) is a first, because if doctors had the “three skills“, Doctor Doumerc has them here”put end to end“.
“It’s something that had never been done, that’s why it’s a first”specifies the surgeon in the columns of 20 minutes.
Preserve the kidney and the patient’s quality of life
A surgical feat that allowed the sexagenarian to recover quickly (thanks to a single incision), to keep her two kidneys and to improve her quality of life: she no longer has a urine collection bag.
“In kidney cancer, strategies must be developed to remove the tumours, preserve both kidneys and thus keep the nephrotic capital, this ability to ensure their function. Because we know that patients with kidney failure have a much lower survival rate than those who have full capacity.“, concludes Dr. Doumerc.