Rib Removal and Pain in Partial Nephrectomy

Rib Removal in Retroperitoneal Open Partial Nephrectomy: Not As Painful As It Seems

In this study, the effect of rib removal on postoperative pain in kidney cancer patients undergoing retroperitoneal open partial nephrectomy with flank incision was investigated. For this purpose, VAS score surveys were prepared for patients who underwent partial nephrectomy surgery in the early and late postoperative periods.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients aged over 18 years who underwent open renal surgery due to kidney cancer were included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a preoperative (one day before surgery) VAS score greater than 0,
• Those with additional known diseases that could cause pain (herniated disc, urinary stone disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, other intra-abdominal pathologies),
• Intraoperative complications that could cause postoperative pain, metastasis, positive surgical margins or peri-renal invasion,
• Those who underwent laparoscopic surgery or those who converted to open surgery after laparoscopic surgery,
• Patients that regularly used painkillers for other reasons,
• Patients whose ribs other than the 11th rib were removed were excluded from the study.