Kidney Cancer

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What to Expect Prior to Surgery

If other arrangements for pre-admission testing have been made, these results need to be faxed at least 7 days prior to your surgery.

To assure your safety to undergo the procedure, the following tests need to be performed:

  • History and physical
  • EKG (electrocardiogram)
  • Blood tests
    • CBC
    • PT / PTT
    • Complete metabolic work-up
  • Urinalysis, Urine culture and sensitivity
  • Chest X-ray

If you have a history of heart problems, we may request additional clearance from your Cardiologist, which may involve additional testing such as an Echocardiogram or Nuclear Medicine stress test. These tests would be ordered by your Primary Care Physician or Cardiologist depending on your medical history.

Preparing for Surgery

  • One day prior to surgery drink only clear liquids. This includes water, juice, soda, tea, coffee and fluids that you can see through. You are allowed to drink unlimited amounts of liquids from 6 PM until 12:00 midnight prior to your surgery. You should drink as much fluid as possible until 12:00 midnight to prevent dehydration from the bowel prep prescribed. AFTER MIDNIGHT, NOTHING TO EAT OR DRINK BY MOUTH.
  • From your local pharmacy, purchase a bottle of Magnesium Citrate. The afternoon prior to surgery (3:00 PM-6:00 PM), drink half a bottle.
  • Aspirin, Motrin, Ibuprofen, Advil, Alka Seltzer, Vitamin E, Ticlid, Coumadin, Lovenox, Celebrex, Voltaren, Vioxx, Plavix and some other arthritis medications can cause bleeding and should be avoided 7 days prior to the date of surgery. Please contact your surgeon's office if you are unsure about which medications to stop prior to surgery. Tylenol is fine. Do not stop any medication without contacting the prescribing doctor to get their approval.

The Operation

This procedure has been performed on many patients over the last several years. Typically, the length of the operation is 3-4 hours. The surgery is performed by making 3 to 4 small (1/4 inch) incisions in the abdomen. The kidney can be removed in 2 ways. A 2-3 inch lower abdominal incision is made in order to remove the kidney as an intact specimen. Alternatively it can be removed by placing it within a bag and breaking the kidney into pieces small enough to be removed through one of the incision sites.