Return to normal activity can often take patients one to two months. Laparoscopic procedures involve the insertion of a miniature TV camera through a small incision in the abdominal wall, usually at the belly-button. Two to three additional incisions are made through which the instruments used to perform the surgery are inserted. Once instruments are placed, the kidney is dissected and put in a small bag for removal. Patients and surgeons often discuss the method of removal.
Laparoscopic techniques have many advantages over surgery performed with traditional incisions.
The most important advantages are significantly reduced postoperative pain and quicker return to normal activity. Laparoscopic nephrectomy is also often used to combat kidney cancer. If not treated quickly and correctly, kidney cancer can become an aggressive tumor with a high fatality rate. Thus, the most prevalent treatment is to remove the cancer before it spreads. Such removal targets either the entire kidney, or, if possible, just the cancerous part of the kidney.