Dr. Art Castro Jr. Urology Clinic

Laparoscopic partial Nephrectomy of a predominantly exophytic 3 cm tumor. This keyhole surgery gives patients the benefits of: faster recovery, less pain, less blood loss and smaller scars.

After cutting the obstructing prostate tissue into small pieces using a LASER. A morcellator is inserted into the bladder to vacuum these small pieces of prostate tissue ‘grinding’ them before sucking them out.

In percutaneous nephroliyhotripsy or PCNL only a small hole is made on the patients back through which a telescope is inserted going to the patients kidney. Once the stone is seen, a lithotriptor or a stone ‘jack hammer’ is used to break it into smaller pieces. These stone fragments are then ‘vacuumed’ out making the patient ‘stone free’.

After suturing the urethra and the bladder back together the integrity of the repair is tested by infusing the bladder with 150 ml of sterile water. There should be no leaks. Once the test confirms that the repair is water tight, the specimen can be removed and a Jackson Pratt drain placed in the pelvis before the patient’s trocar sites are closed. This concludes the surgery.

Using V-lock barbed sutures the urethra and the bladder are anastomosed after the removal of the prostate. This restores the urinary passageway.