Kidney treatments

What this section covers

The kidney section of this site covers three main areas of kidney care:

• Kidney cancer - tumours that grow inside the kidney.
• Kidney stones - hard deposits that form inside the kidney and can cause pain or blockage.
• Robotic kidney surgery - keyhole surgery using a robot, used for some kidney cancers and for blockages of the kidney drainage tube.

Kidney cancer

Kidney cancer is often picked up by accident on a scan done for another reason. The aim of treatment is usually to remove the cancer while keeping as much of the kidney as possible. Options include:

• Robotic partial nephrectomy - removing the tumour but keeping the rest of the kidney.
• Radical nephrectomy - removing the whole kidney, when partial removal is not safe.
• Active surveillance - watching small, low-risk tumours over time, in selected patients.

Dr Kooner performed Australia's first robot-assisted kidney cancer operation. See the short version: kidney cancer for more.

Kidney stones

Kidney stones are common. Many small stones pass on their own. Larger stones, or stones causing problems, may need treatment with:

• Shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) - sound waves break the stone from outside the body.
• Ureteroscopy with laser - a thin telescope is passed up to the stone and a laser breaks it up.
• Percutaneous surgery (PCNL) - keyhole surgery directly into the kidney for very large stones.

See the short version: kidney stones for more.

Robotic kidney surgery

Robotic surgery can be used for:

• Kidney cancer - keyhole removal of a tumour while preserving the rest of the kidney.
• Pyeloplasty - rebuilding the kidney drainage where it is blocked. See the short version: robotic pyeloplasty.