Pontiac's St. Joseph Mercy Oakland hospital announced Wednesday that its doctors have performed their first kidney tumor removal using radio frequency waves rather than traditional invasive surgery.
The new method, called CT-guided percutaneous radio frequency ablation, is less traumatic for the patient than traditional kidney tumor removal and results in almost no blood loss. After surgery, the patient is hospitalized for only one day.
Urologist David L. Harold, M.D., and interventional radiologist and chair of the department of radiology Babu R. Vemuri, M.D., take a team approach in performing the procedure. It requires the expertise of a urologist combined with that of an interventional radiologist for the best outcome, Harold said.
It’s not the first time urologists and radiologists have joined forces on kidney operations. Since the 1980s, they have teamed up to perform the percutaneous nephrostolithotomy, a procedure used to remove kidney stones by making a small incision through the back and passing a scope into the kidney to see the stone.
Harold has been using RFA on patients with prostate problems for seven years in an office procedure abbreviated as TUNA, for trans-urethral needle ablation to shrink prostate tissues.
This is the first time Drs. Harold and Vemuri are using it for kidney tumor removal. SJMO physicians also have employed RFA to destroy liver lesions.
“Most solid renal tumors are cancerous,” Harold said. “RFA is a proven modality, producing sustainable results for tissue (tumor) destruction.”
The procedure involves locating the tumor with a CT scan. According to Harold, it must be “in an appropriate position and accessible. Position and size are important.” The tumor has to be located in a “safe position,” on the back side of the kidney, away from the bowel. If the tumor is not positioned in the right place, or it is too big, RFA is not employed.
Once the tumor is located, a needle is placed into the mass. Through the needle, a special probe delivers the radio frequency, “literally destroying the mass,” Harold said.
Some sedation is used, and side effects are generally minimal, usually mild to moderate pain and blood in the urine. Although the patient requires close follow-up afterward, he or she can resume normal activities within a couple of days after discharge from the hospital. Both men and women can be candidates for the procedure.
St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is a 428-bed comprehensive community hospital. It is a member of Trinity Health, the fourth largest Catholic health care system in the United States.
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