Intervention planning in modern renal surgery

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction in renal surgery offers significant benefits in planning of the operation itself, in patient education and training fellows. The goal was to study the possible application and use of 3D reconstruction in modern renal surgery. A literature search in PubMed using keywords "3D" and "renal surgery" within the last 10years of publication was performed. The search revealed 655articles among them 53reviews. Relevant for this article were 120 articles which included 14reviews. The publication statistics showed astrong increase in the last 10years which may reflect the increasing application and demand for 3D technology in the field of renal surgery. Especially in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery applications, the use of 3D technology was studied more often. The technical standards are not yet uniform and 3D printing in complex renal surgery remains cost- and time-intensive. Nevertheless, the results of the pioneering clinical studies showed positive results, and 3D technology can be used not only in planning the operation, but in patient education and also the training of fellows and staff. Alimitation to more complex cases seems to be sensible for this is still acostly tool. To identify complex cases in renal surgery, the established renometric scoring systems should be used more broadly in daily practice to identify patients who would profit most from this technique. In complex renal surgery, 3D reconstruction and modelling is rational; furthermore, it can be useful in patient education and in training of fellows.