Whether providing relief from pain due to kidney stones called calculi, allowing a new lease on life through transplant or creating hope for a cancer patient, kidney surgery turns lives around. This surgery is performed by a regular surgeon, often in consultation with a nephrologist--a doctor who specializes in kidney diseases. The duration of hospitalization and followup care depend upon the type of kidney surgery.
Biopsy
Biopsy is the most common type of kidney surgery because it is essential for diagnosing many kidney diseases.
While kidney biopsies are a minor procedure, they are still invasive procedures. Using ultrasound images for guidance, a needle is inserted through the skin and into the kidney. Often, several samples are taken, requiring a new needle stick for each sample.
This procedure is done in the hospital under local sedation. Doctors often give the patient a muscle relaxant to help him calm down. The patient continues lying down for several hours afterward to minimize the chances of bleeding at the site.
Nephrectomy
Nephrectomy is the name for removing a kidney. Surgeons perform total nephrectomies on patients who donate kidneys. They also perform either partial or radical nephrectomies on patients with kidney cancer. According to the National Kidney Foundation, "radical nephrectomy involves removing the entire kidney, along with a section of the tube leading to the bladder (ureter), the gland that sits atop the kidney (adrenal gland), and the fatty tissue surrounding the kidney."
If both kidneys are removed, the surgery is called a bilateral nephrectomy.
Patients are hospitalized for one to seven days, depending upon the extent of the surgery.
Transplant
Kidney transplant allows a kidney from a living donor or a cadaver to be transferred to a person whose kidneys have failed. Kidney transplants were made possible by the development of drugs that suppress the immune system so that the new kidney is not rejected as foreign object. The surgery has been perfected since the 1970s so much that transplants can even be performed on infants.
Transplants are performed under general anesthesia. In many cases, the patient is hospitalized for two or three days.
Stone Removal
Most kidney stones pass by themselves, but surgery is sometimes necessary if the stone is large or if it blocks the flow of urine. Stones are removed via a procedure called percutaneous nephrolithotomy or PCNL. The surgeon inserts an endoscope through a small opening so that he can see the stone and remove it.
Developed in the 1970s as an alternative to open surgery or nephrolithotomy, PCNL is performed under general anesthesia. The procedure takes a few hours.
