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For patients who have diseased kidneys due to cancer, chronic blockage, or severe stone disease, help is now available through new, minimally invasive surgery performed at Lawrence Memorial Hospital and Melrose-Wakefield Hospital.
The procedure, called laparoscopic nephrectomy, uses special microscopic instruments that allow surgeons to make smaller incisions than the larger incisions needed for traditional open surgery.
"The innovative technique allows us to remove the diseased kidney by making one small incision and two tiny holes for the laparoscope and other instruments," said Martha Dyer, MD, urologist on staff at LMH and MWH.
Laparoscopic nephrectomy typically is a treatment option for patients diagnosed with kidney cancer such as renal cell cancer or transitional cell cancer. It also can be performed to remove a painful or nonfunctioning kidney.
"The good news about this surgery is that it's much less painful for patients, and most people go home on either the second or third day after surgery with positive results," said Dr. Dyer, who has performed numerous laparoscopic nephrectomies since 2003.
For a urologist
For more information or to find a urologist, please call our physician referral line at 1-800-540-9191 or use our Find a Physician service.
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