KIDNEY CANCER
CRYOTHERAPY
Cryosurgery Procedures
Treatment Side Effects
and Possible Complications
There are possible complications with
any medical procedure, and renal
cryotherapy is no exception. Complications
that can occur during or after any procedure include
problems related to general anesthesia and cardiovascular
problems such as heart attack, stroke, deep vein
thrombosis and pulmonary embolus. These
problems rarely occur, and the risk depends on
the patient’s general fitness for surgery and
previous medical problems. Published
data show that the location and size of the lesion
can affect the risk for certain complications,
as can the approach and technique employed to
access the kidney. Overall, minimally
invasive procedures have a lower complication
rate than open surgeries.
Clearly, any time the kidney undergoes surgery, there is a chance of excessive bleeding. Patients who undergo cryoablation have less risk of bleeding because the surgeon is not actually cutting into the kidney. Similarly, not incising the kidney minimizes the risk of a complication known as “urine leak.” As used here, the term “urine leak” refers to urine leaking from the kidney’s internal collection system (see the section entitled The Kidneys). This happens when the collection system is disrupted by the incision made into the kidney. Sometimes this leakage can cause a cyst in or on the kidney that contains urine. This cyst is called a urinoma, and is a relatively rare complication that may require additional treatment.
During the double freeze-thaw process,
injury to nearby structures such as the blood
vessels, spleen, liver, pancreas or bowel can
occur. Great care is taken during every
cryosurgical procedure to avoid these injuries,
and pre-procedure imaging studies aid the surgeon
in planning the best approach, technique, and
placement of the cryoablation
needles to minimize trauma to healthy kidney
tissue and adjacent structures.
Since patients undergoing cryosurgery
to remove a kidney tumor report minimal pain,
complications arising from the administration
of pain killers are also kept to a minimum.
Before leaving the hospital, patients are instructed
to be vigilant for various signs of wound infection
and hernia through one of the wounds, which are
possible post-procedure complications.
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