The safety and validity of surgical resection for hemodialysis-dependent patients with renal cell carcinomas involving the inferior vena cava

Perioperative morbidity and mortality increase during renal cell carcinoma resection with inferior vena cava involvement in hemodialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease patients. We evaluated the safety and validity of surgical management for renal cell carcinoma with inferior vena cava thrombi in such patients undergoing radical nephrectomies and tumor thrombectomies. There were three patients with tumor thrombus level II, and one each with tumor thrombus level III and IV. We evaluated median operative time (337 min), median estimated blood loss (1300 mL), and median postoperative hospitalization (15 days). Postoperative complications included surgical site dehiscence and pulmonary thromboembolism. One patient with preoperatively identified lung metastases developed a pulmonary thromboembolism on day 3 and died on day 15. The other four patients had long postoperative survival (19–104 months). Successful surgical management of renal cell carcinoma involving the inferior vena cava requires preoperative evaluation of the patient’s condition to improve survival for hemodialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease patients.