How Many Hours Does Kidney Cancer Surgery Take?

Kidney cancer surgery is one of the most successful methods applied in the treatment of kidney cancer. In operations performed with robotic surgery, to which developing technology has also made a great contribution, the kidney being saved from cancer and the extension of the patient's survival time can be achieved.

An operation carried out on the kidney is a procedure that can involve dangers to life. As much as the degree of the disease, the doctor's experience is also directly related to the success rate of this surgical procedure. In operations carried out by a successful surgeon, the patient being completely freed from kidney cancer will be the expected result.

Kidney cancer surgery is carried out with two different surgical methods based on the size, location and manner of spread of the tumour present in the kidney:

Robotic Radical Nephrectomy
Robotic Partial Nephrectomy

Now let us look at the details of these two surgical methods and the durations of the operations.

How Many Hours Does Kidney Cancer Surgery With Radical Nephrectomy Take?

If the tumour that has formed in the kidney is 6 cm and above (of a size large enough to take in the veins and arteries of the kidney) and if it has a tendency to metastasise to the tissues around the kidney, removing only the tumour will not be sufficient and removing the tumour will cause great damage to the kidney. In this situation the kidney must be removed together with the cancerous tumour by the radical nephrectomy method.

Radical nephrectomy operations are operations requiring great care. Kidney cancer surgery carried out with this method can last approximately between 30 and 90 minutes.

The operations of patients whose tumour size is larger than 10 cm can extend to up to 120 minutes.

How Many Hours Does Kidney Cancer Surgery With Partial Nephrectomy Take?

In partial nephrectomy operations performed with robotic surgery, only the cancerous tumour is removed while the remaining healthy kidney tissue is preserved. The durations of partial nephrectomy operations carried out with robotic surgery differ according to the size of the tumour.  

If the tumour is under 4 cm, kidney cancer surgery lasts approximately 60 minutes. In tumours between 4 and 7 cm this duration can reach 90 minutes.

The durations of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy operations also show similarity to the durations of partial nephrectomy operations carried out with robotic surgery. Both types of operation, when carried out by an experienced doctor, are carried out in approximately the same durations.

Factors Affecting the Duration of Kidney Cancer Surgery

The methods preferred for kidney cancer surgery are chosen based on certain factors. The duration of the operation also varies according to the surgical technique chosen. 

These factors affecting the durations of operations are;

• In which region within the kidney the tumour is located
• The appearance of the tumour within the kidney (endophytic or exophytic)
• The size of the tumour in the kidney
• The knowledge and experience of the surgeon who will carry out the operation