Cryosurgery is strongly recommended in cases with a single kidney or in patients who present a tumour along with other related illnesses. This treatment is also recommended for the elimination of selected cases of benign tumours, complicated cysts or fast-growing tumours.
There has been a gradual increase in cases of kidney cancer in recent years, as well as earlier detection, especially in tumours which are smaller in size or in the early stages. Cryosurgery is one of the various treatment options, and is a technique recommended in the protocols of the European Association of Urology and the American Urological Association
Renal cryosurgery is the treatment of kidney cancer through extreme freezing. It is an alternative to partial or full surgery, has the advantage of being performed with radiological and CT guidance, and is a minimally invasive procedure, which is performed under local anaesthetic or sedation. A 24 hour hospital stay is required.
This technique can also be performed using laparoscopic surgery in specific cases.
The use of ultrasound has contributed substantially to the diagnosis of small renal masses which used to go unnoticed. In the last decade, the number of renal cancer cases has risen slowly but surely at the expense of the increase in not only localised but also advanced tumours.
