An innovative operation of lymph nodes removal in male genital cancer through the leg incision was performed on 26 April 2017 at the University Hospital in Kraków. The complicated surgery took about three hours and was conducted by a team led by Professor Piotr Chłosta, the head of the Department of Urology and Urologic Oncology.
Cancers of male external genital organs are very often capable of spreading to the regional lymph nodes, that is, to superficial inguinal lymph nodes. The classic method of extensive lymphadenectomy is known to present a high postoperative risk, including the necrosis of the operated area and pressure ulcers, which are a quite common phenomenon, mainly due to the fact that the surgery is performed on slowly healing parts of the body.
The laparoscopic surgery significantly reduces the risk of these complications and considerably improves the quality of patients’ life. However, such methods require specialist equipment, as well as specially trained physicians.
“All operations are performed via endoscopy, using either natural cavities of the body or small incisions in the patient’s skin layers. They are more difficult than the traditional open surgeries. In this case, we inserted surgical instruments into the patient’s leg, near his knee, and then reached the inguinal region by delaminating subcutaneous tissue between the thigh muscles and skin layers”, explains Prof. Chłosta.
The novel method was first used in late 2016. The recent operation at the University Hospital in Kraków is the first such treatment performed in Poland. “I’m extremely happy that we’ve achieved another breakthrough in the field of men’s urinary and genitourinary system surgery. There is a chance that this innovative procedure will soon become a routine treatment in our hospital”, says the head of the Department of Urology and Urologic Oncology.
