15-Year-Old Girl With Fused Kidney Undergoes Robotic Surgery

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A 15-year-old girl, born with a single-fused kidney, underwent a robotic surgery at a private facility here for the removal of a tennis ball-sized renal cyst, said doctors.

According to doctors at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, the case was challenging as the doctors had to ensure the removal of the cyst with minimal damage to the solitary kidney of the child along with its blood vessels and ureter.

In this case, the renal vessels and ureter were abnormally intermingled with the cyst and injury to any of these structures would have been catastrophic to the patient, said the hospital.

The girl was born with developmental abnormalities that caused both her kidneys to fuse together on the left side and she had an absent right kidney.

She came to the hospital with complaints of on and off pain in the left flank for over 18 months.

The cyst measured 10X10 cm in size (size of a tennis ball) in the fused kidney with renal vessels and ureter around it, the hospital said.

"This was one of the most complicated cases to handle. After evaluation, we decided to perform high precision robotic surgery to remove the cyst," said Dr Surender Dabas, Senior Director & HOD, Surgical Oncology and Robotic Surgery, BLK- Max Super Specialty Hospital.

"She successfully underwent robotic excision of the cystic mass. Making use of robotic technology for meticulous dissection of the surrounding structures, blood vessels and ureters, the team was successfully able to dissect the cystic mass with minimal blood loss while preserving the surrounding structures," he said.

Due to the use of robotic surgery, the patient made a swift recovery without any post-op complications and was discharged on the fourth day after surgery.

Normally, doctors use open surgery to correct this condition, but they went for robotic surgery in this case since it is minimally invasive and causes less pain, blood loss and scarring and also helps in early postoperative recovery and less hospital stay, the doctor said.

"It also reduces the chances of surgical site infection and ensures quick discharge," he added.

The case was also challenging given the small frame of the child and smaller abdomen, the hospital said.