The American Urological Society says that complete removal of the kidney is no longer necessary to treat certain tumors. Now, patients in Cartersville have the option of having a partial nephrectomy performed.

Dr. Joel Rosenfeld, a urologist at Georgia Urology, recently performed the first partial nephrectomy at Cartersville Medical Center using da Vinci Robotic Surgery technology. According to the practice's website, the da Vinci system is a three-dimensional, wristed instrumentation that offers excellent visibility and exact techniques by turning the doctor's hand movements into precise micromovements.

Partial nephrectomy removes the diseased part of the kidney, leaving the healthy, functioning kidney tissue. Studies show that patients who have their entire kidney removed are more likely to suffer from chronic kidney disease after surgery than patients who received a kidney-sparing partial nephrectomy.

According to the American Urological Association, removing the mass and a margin of normal renal tissue has been shown to give excellent control of renal cancers, especially smaller lesions frequently found incidentally on x-rays.

The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System uses state-of-the-art technology to help the surgeon provide treatment while avoiding a large flank incision. 

"By performing partial nephrectomies laparoscopically, we can avoid a flank incision which carries both short and long term morbidity," Rosenfeld said. "The robotic assisted procedure allows for safer and more precise identification of the blood vessels supplying the kidney, better visualization during removal of masses, and faster reconstruction of the kidney minimizing the time the kidney is deprived of blood flow.  Most patients are ambulatory and can be discharged the day after surgery."

Robotic Partial Nephrectomy offers several other potential benefits, including excellent clinical outcomes and cancer control, a short hospital stay, low blood loss, precise tumor removal and kidney reconstruction, and excellent chance of preserving the kidney, in certain operations.

In addition to performing partial nephrectomies, Rosenfeld also routinely performs robotic prostatectomies and other urological procedures at Cartersville Medical Center.

For more information, log on to http://www.cartersvillemedical.com/our-services/robotic-surgery/partial-nephrectomy.dot. For a physician referral, please call MedLine at 1-800-242-5662.