Doctors have removed a kidney tumour measuring 10 centimetre from a 76-year-old woman through laparoscopic surgery.

A team led by Arun Kumar Balakrishnan, managing director, Chief Urologist, Uro-Oncologist and Robotic Surgeon, Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology (AINU) performed the procedure on the septuagenarian. The tumour was found incidentally during a routine health check-up as the patient did not have symptoms. She had hypertension, hypothyroidism, and chronic anaemia requiring multiple blood transfusions.

“She weighed 35 kg. Conventional open surgery is too risky as she could experience breathing difficulty and blood loss,” he told reporters on Thursday. Doctors performed a laparoscopic surgery to remove the tumour. With laparoscopy, there is minimal blood loss, major incisions can be avoided, reduced post-operative pain, fast return to nutrition and healing and shorter hospital stay, a press release said. There is no damage to nearby organs, he said, adding that it enables early ambulation of patients, and in this case, the patient was discharged on the third day of surgery.

“Kidney cancers are on the rise. But there are has no big symptoms,” Dr. Balakrishnan said, adding that 95% of kidney cancers are incidental findings, and the remaining five per cent were reported in advanced and inoperable stages. “There is no awareness about kidney cancers among the people. Regular medical checks could include an ultrasound scan in a year or once in two years including for those with a family history of kidney cancers,” he said.

D. Venkat Subramaniam, executive director and senior urologist, AINU was present.