Unilateral nephrectomy in two aged horses

Renal carcinoma as a cause of sudden death in an aged horse

“…Transabdominal or transrectal ultrasonography may have allowed visualisation of the mass and ultrasound guided biopsies could have been obtained (although this would have carried a substantial risk). More recently, intra-abdominal renal ultrasonography has been performed via standing flank laparotomy prior to nephrectomy (Ferguson et al 2007).…”

“…No metastases were evident at the time of laparoscopy but the gelding was subjected to euthanasia 7 months later due to multifocal carcinomatosis. Ferguson et al (2007) successfully treated a renal papillary adenoma in a Thoroughbred gelding by a similar technique. Theoretically, the current case could have been a candidate for such a procedure as no metastatic spread was evident grossly.…”

Hand‐assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy in a standing horse

“…Renal disorders requiring unilateral nephrectomy are unusual in horses, and pose considerable challenges to the surgeon. Indications are unilateral hydronephrosis, abscessation, neoplasia, ureteropelvic polyp, pyelonephritis, nephrolithiasis, uretrolithiasis, renal parasitic lesions (Halicephalobus deletrix), idiopathic renal haematuria and ectopic ureter (Lilich et al 2006;Ferguson et al 2007).…”

“…The manual manipulation of the kidney is observed and guided, combining the advantages of conventional open surgery with the minimal invasiveness of laparoscopy. The first hand-assisted clinical nephrectomy of the left kidney in a patient was described by Röcken et al (2007), followed by Ferguson et al (2007), Cokelaere et al (2007) and Hilton et al (2008). The advantages are avoidance of the risk of general anaesthesia and the need for a rib resection.…”

“…An advantage might be that the abdominal cavity stays unopened and that drainage of dead space is extraabdominal as in the conventional retroperitoneal approach. However, the procedure is more technically demanding and with the positive results of the transperitoneal procedure (Ferguson et al 2007;Röcken et al 2007;Hilton et al 2008) the necessity is questionable.…”