Thermal percutaneous ablation of a kidney tumor is a minimally invasive therapeutic procedure, which is performed with a special needle that generates heat at the tip of an area of several centimeters and thus destroys the tumor tissue.
The needle is introduced through a small opening, without the need for a large incision in the abdomen, and is introduced precisely under CT control to the tumor, which is then treated with heat, in order to destroy it and achieve the same effect as surgical removal.
When can percutaneous thermal ablation of kidney tumors be performed?
Kidney cancer most often develops in people over the age of 40, more often in men than in women.
Smoking, kidney stones, chronic kidney inflammation and exposure to certain chemical substances contribute to the development of kidney cancer. In recent times, more and more small kidney cancers are being detected, which are discovered as an incidental finding during the diagnostic workup of the abdomen.
When kidney cancer is detected and confirmed, there are several treatment options, including surgical removal of the tumor or the entire kidney and minimally invasive thermal ablation.
Ablation is a treatment option for patients with tumors up to 4 cm in size, in whom ablation has, according to studies, almost the same success rate as surgical resection, but is associated with significantly fewer complications, shorter recovery and less damage to kidney function.
This type of therapy is especially suitable for patients who, due to other diseases, previous operations or poor kidney function, are not ideal candidates for surgery.
The advantage of ablation is a shorter recovery, a lower risk of intervention and the possibility of repeating it in several locations in the organ if the disease returns later in another place or at the site of an earlier intervention.
What does thermal ablation of a kidney tumor include?
Percutaneous thermal ablation of kidney tumors is a minimally invasive method, which means that it is performed by guiding a needle with a diameter of about 1.5-2 mm precisely to the tumor under CT control. After that, with an ablation needle for 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of the tumor, heat of about 100 degrees thermally destroys tumor tissue.
The operation is most often performed under local anesthesia and sedation with the patient lying down.
How to prepare?
When making an appointment for ablation, the patient receives information from the specialist interventional radiologist about the procedure, possible advantages and risks, as well as written instructions on preparation (instructions on laboratory findings that need to be done, on antibiotic protection - prophylaxis and on the procedure if anticoagulant therapy is taken).
The procedure is usually performed under local anesthesia and lasts about 60 minutes.
After the procedure, the patient remains in the ward for 12 to 24 hours for observation in order to rule out complications.