Antegrade balloon occlusion of inferior vena cava during thrombectomy for renal cell carcinoma
Nephrectomy with inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombectomy foradvanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a challenging and morbidsurgical case. We describe the use of a simple endoluminaltechnique to occlude the suprahepatic IVC during thrombectomy.A 60-year-old male presented with a large right-sided RCC andIVC tumour thrombus. The tip of the thrombus, which was nonadherentto the caval wall, extended to the level of the hepaticveins. After complete dissection of the kidney, we obtained suprahepaticcontrol of the IVC by a large compliant balloon, introducedthrough the right internal jugular vein and inflated just below thelevel of the diaphragm. The IVC thrombectomy was performedin a bloodless field. Mean blood pressure remained stable duringIVC balloon inflation with a total occlusion time of 10 minutes.Intraprocedural completion cavogram and postoperative Dopplerultrasonography showed no residual IVC clot. Blood loss duringthe thrombectomy portion of the case was scant. The patient’spostoperative course was uncomplicated and, at the last followup,he had stable metastatic disease on sunitinib therapy. For thesurgical treatment of RCC with retrohepatic IVC tumour extension,transjugular balloon occlusion of the suprahepatic IVC offers analternative to extensive hepatic mobilization to obtain suprahepaticthrombus control. Advantages over traditional surgical methodsmay include decreased surgical time, lower risk of liver injury andtumour embolism. We suggest this method for further evaluation.