Kidney Surgery for Cancer, Stones and a Dismembered UPJ

Kidney surgery for patients with cancer (renal cell carcinoma) is performed with da Vinci surgery by our urology specialists.  Kidney cancer symptoms may be mild or nonexistent at first. However, as the cancer progresses you may be able to feel a kidney mass when touching your back. You may also experience kidney pain, fatigue, or blood in urine, which could be microscopic hematuria or gross hematuria. Diagnostic tests, such as an X-ray, a kidney CT scan and a kidney MRI, can detect the presence of kidney tumors and the extent of any renal cancer. The type of kidney removal surgery that will be used to try and get rid of the cancerous kidney tissue will be determined after a complete analysis of a patient’s symptoms and medical history at the Florida kidney surgery center.

Kidney surgery not only involves kidney cancer surgery but also surgery for kidney stones. Kidney stones form inside the kidneys and cause severe pain. Patients have several options for kidney stones treatment. Medication, supplements, and a change in diet may help to prevent kidney stones from recurring. Often a kidney stone is left to pass on its own. However, when a kidney stone is too large, kidney stone surgery may be necessary.

Our team of kidney surgery doctors choose from several different procedures to remove kidney stones. A percutaneous nephrolithotomy involves making a small incision in a patient’s back and pulling out the kidney stones. A ureteroscopy can involve using a small basket to remove the stone. A Holmium laser might be used to break up a kidney stone into hundreds of tiny pieces. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, also known as ESWL, can also break up the stone with shock waves. Dr. Edward Gheiler and Dr. Fernando Bianco from our Miami urology center then insert a narrow tube called a kidney stone stent between the kidney and the bladder to help the pieces flush out through the urine.

When urine builds up in the urinary system, the renal pelvis of the kidney and the ureters, which lead to the bladder, can become deformed and detach, the medical term is “detached uretero-pelvic junction (UPJ)”. This may be due to urinary retention, a congenital condition, or a lack of blood supply flowing to the region.A kidney surgery called pyeloplasty is used to reconnect the ureter to the kidney. During this procedure, Dr. Bianco will repair any damage to the ureters and kidney and reattach the ureter to the kidney to help bring back the normal flow of urine, often with robotic surgery.

Kidney surgery is usually not performed on patients with kidney cysts that are filled with fluid. A simple kidney cyst is usually indicative of a benign kidney condition and will most likely not cause any severe medical problems. However, if a cystic kidney is bothersome or the kidney cysts become enlarged or irregular in shape, a more serious condition may be present and surgery to remove the cysts or kidney may be necessary. Any kidney cyst symptoms, such as pain, urinary infection, or blood in urine called microscopic hematuria or gross hematuria, should be evaluated by our urology specialists.