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5kg kidney removed through keyhole

An overgrown kidney, weighing 5kg and occupying half of a male patient’s abdomen, was removed by doctors in Dubai recently.

The non-functional kidney was 20 times bigger than a normal functioning one that weighs only 150 grams in an adult.

A team of doctors from Dubai Hospital removed the kidney in bits and pieces through laparoscopy (keyhole surgery) to avoid scarring. The 46-year-old patient is said to have recovered and resumed normal day-to-day activities.

“The patient was suffering from a huge impaired kidney which was occupying half of his abdomen and causing asymmetric big belly and uncontrollable hypertension,” explained Dr Fariborz Bagheri, in-charge of the Urology Department at Dubai Hospital.

The doctor said the kidney had grown to this size over a period of two years due to the delay in treatment: “This is among the three-four such cases that I have seen in 17 years of my experience,” said Dr Bagheri who has performed over 3,000 laparoscopic surgeries in urology in Dubai and Hungary.

“The patient had kidney stones and he delayed getting treatment, probably due to financial constraints,” he said. The result was an overgrown, non-functional kidney that led to severe hypertension, he added: “In such types of cases, the blood pressure increases tremendously and the patient does not respond to any medication.”

Surgically, the kidney was approached through the laparoscopic technique in which only a few holes of half to one centimetre were made in the abdomen. The kidney was finally removed through a two centimetre skin incision by special techniques.

“The patient said that his friends are surprised that he has lost his big asymmetric belly within a few days without having any scar in his abdomen,” said Dr Bagheri.

The patient’s hypertension has also normalised without the need of any medication and he will be able to survive on one kidney, he said. On World Kidney Day on Wednesday, Dr Bagheri asked people to take all kinds of pain and infections in the kidney seriously. “Getting no treatment at all can worsen the condition…they should trust doctors,” he added.

He also said that with modern technologies and advanced experience in laparoscopy, most urology procedures can be performed through this technique which has the advantages of better visualisation during the surgery, minimum scar formation, and less pain compared to the conventional open surgeries.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com