The goal of this paper is to provide a description of the surgical method as well as a review of the present status of retroperitoneal robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (rRAPN). The usual therapy for localised kidney tumours is partial nephrectomy. rRAPN is very beneficial for kidney tumours in the back of the kidney. It has advantages such as direct access to the renal artery and the elimination of the requirement for bowel mobilisation. The drawbacks include the limited working space and unfamiliar anatomical landmarks. It is a repeatable method that yields comparable oncological and functional outcomes to the more conventional transperitoneal approach (tRAPN). High-quality randomised controlled trials are required to determine the relevance of emerging technologies in the performance of this surgery, such as current high-flow insufflation devices, intracavitary ultrasonography, 3D planning, and augmented reality (AR).rRAPN is particularly effective for kidney tumours in the back of the kidney. Both techniques, transperitoneal and retroperitoneal, should be familiarised by robotic surgeons.
Reference: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11934-021-01051-z
