Renal artery pseudoaneurysm following robot assisted nephron sparing surgery: two case reports

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Renal artery pseudoaneurysm following partial nephrectomy is a rare entity, the incidence of this entity is more common following penetrating abdominal injuries, percutaneous renal interventions such as percutaneous nephrostomy(PCN) or Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). Although rare, renal artery pseudoaneurysm can be life threatening if not managed timely, they usually present within two weeks postoperatively with usual presenting complains being gross haematuria, flank pain and/or anaemia. CASE PRESENTATION: We report case of two female patients 34 and 57 year old respectively of South Asian ethnicity, presenting with renal artery pseudoaneurysm following left sided robot assisted nephron sparing surgery for interpolar masses presenting clinically with total, painless, gross haematuria with clots within fifteen days postoperatively and their successful treatment by digital subtraction angiography and coil embolization. CONCLUSION: Renal artery aneurysm is a rare fatal complication of minimally invasive nephron sparing surgery however considering the preoperative and intraoperative risk factors for its development and prompt suspicion at the outset can be life saving with coil embolization of the bleeding arterial aneurysm.