From November 2009 to October 2018, 399 patients underwent LPN and 307 patients to laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN). 41 patients with RENAL score ≥ 10 enrolled in LPN and 265 patients to the LRN group. Propensity score matching (matched by age, gender, clinical tumor stage, tumor size, baseline renal function, comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT), coronary artery disease (CAD), and final tumor pathology of RCC) was used to reduce selection bias. Functional and oncological outcomes were compared between the two groups. After propensity score analysis, 39 patients in the LRN group were matched with 39 in the LPN group.
The study aims to investigate the rationale for LPN in patients with high-complexity renal tumors in terms of oncologic and functional outcomes.