The article explains of laparoscopic treatments for kidney and ureteral disease with the aid of medical microscope. The article first discusses of Kidney cysts. Also called the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease or ADPKD, the disease involves fluid filled areas that form in the kidney. Abdominal pain and swelling are its common symptoms. This is usually an inherited abnormality. This familial disease causes cysts to form in many different organs, including the kidney, liver, pancreas and brain. The article tells that once a person has the gene for ADPKD, there is no way to stop the disease from occurring.
The kidney cysts increase in number and size with time and can cause kidney failure. In the said serious conditions, dialysis or kidney transplantation is usually required.
Patients with ADPKD may develop high blood pressure as a complication. They may also develop bleeding into the cysts, which causes increased pain, infection of the cysts, and kidney failure necessitating dialysis or kidney transplantation. Medication may be necessary to control the high blood pressure in such cases. Surgery is sometimes indicated to patients with diagnosed ADPKD. A recent laparoscopic draining of cycts is commonly done.
The article explains of the process called laparoscopic cyst decortication for ADPKD. In the process, 3 to 5 small incisions are made on the abdomen with the aid of medical microscope. It is through which that a telescope and dissecting instruments are inserted into the abdomen. They are used to remove and drain all the cysts on the outside of the kidney. This operation is indicated in patients who have very large kidney cysts that cause abdominal pain or discomfort. Most patients will have some or all of their pain relieved after the cyst decortication procedure. Some patients who have high blood pressure from this disease have had improvement in their blood pressure after the cyst decortication procedure.
The article also discusses cancer of the kidneys. Kidney tumors are growths on the kidney that may be cancerous. Symptoms like blood in the urine are a common symptom of kidney tumors. At times though it could be asymptomatic. Some cases of kidney cancers are directly related to cigarette smoking. Cigarette smoking increases the risk of kidney tumors. If the tumor is only in the kidney when discovered, the cancer can be cured by an operation with the help of medical microscope. The surgery involves the removal the entire kidney or just the tumor. If the cancer has spread outside the kidney, chemotherapy or radiation may indicate to control the growth of the cancer cells. The best way to cure these cancers is to remove the entire kidney and possibly the tube that drains the kidney to the bladder or the ureter. This surgery can be performed using a large abdominal incision, involving three to five small incisions, used to insert a laparoscope and instruments for the operation. The laparoscopic removal of the kidney is less painful. It allows the patient to return to regular activities more quickly compared to the open incision.
Less invasive treatments are presently being investigated which invoves freezing the tumor. It is called cryotherapy. Heat application or radiofrequency of the tumor is also being investigated. Placing a probe into the tumor under laparoscopic visual control or CT scan or ultrasound control does it. The freezing or heating of the area around the tip of the probe appears to effectively kill the microscopic cells, including the tumor cells. Read more