Nefretektoomia

Nefretektoomia is a surgical procedure for removing all or part of a kidney. It is performed to treat disease, relieve pain, or obtain a donor kidney for transplantation. The term combines roots referring to the kidney with the suffix indicating surgical removal.

The procedure exists in several forms. Simple (total) nephrectomy removes the entire kidney and nearby perinephric tissue. Radical nephrectomy removes the kidney along with surrounding fat, fascia, and sometimes the adrenal gland. Partial nephrectomy, or nephron-sparing nephrectomy, removes only the diseased portion of the kidney while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.

Indications include localized kidney tumors, a nonfunctioning or severely damaged kidney due to chronic infection, obstruction, stones, or trauma, and kidney donation for transplantation in living donors. The choice of procedure depends on the disease extent, kidney function, and patient factors.

Techniques used today include open surgery, laparoscopic nephrectomy, and robot-assisted approaches. Preoperative evaluation typically involves imaging with CT or MRI, assessment of renal function, cardiovascular risk, and optimization of medications. In living donor cases, planning also considers the function of the remaining kidney and overall patient health.

Postoperative care focuses on pain control, fluid management, monitoring kidney function, and infection prevention. Potential complications include bleeding, infection, injury to nearby organs, urine leakage, and temporary or permanent changes in renal function. Most patients recover after an uncomplicated nephrectomy, with shorter recoveries usually seen after minimally invasive approaches compared with open surgery.