Preoperative renal tumor embolization. A useful procedure?

The medical reports of 113 patients operated upon for renal tumors were retrospectively reviewed to assess the value of preoperative embolization. Coils or ethanol were used preoperatively in 55 patients while 58 patients underwent nephrectomy without embolization. The tumors were staged according to the TNM and the Robson staging classification. T1 and T2 tumors as well as T3 and T4 tumors were grouped together for statistical evaluation. There was no significant difference in intraoperative blood loss, operation time and survival rate between patients undergoing preoperative embolization and those who had only nephrectomy. Duration of hospital stay was always longer in the preoperatively embolized group. Preoperative embolization of renal tumors neither improved the patients' outcome nor reduced the surgical risk. Robson's classification, stage III/IV, did not show any significant differences for embolized patients or for those nephrectomized without embolization.