Thanks to the CT scan navigation, the needles were inserted into the tumor, and then their tips were cooled to -20°C. The low temperature destroyed the tumor and a small margin of the tissues around it without the need for surgery. The patient was referred to ablation because of the overall burden, which made the surgery too risky. The procedure lasted about 3 hours and was remotely supervised by Dr. Patrick Knüsel, an interventional radiologist from Switzerland. Dr. Knüsel had a permanent preview of CT scans, ultrasound, ablation apparatus and the operating field.
Cryoablation was performed by the interventional radiologists: Grzegorz Rosiak, MD, PhD, Dariusz Konecki, MD, and Krzysztof Milczarek, MD, PhD, and the anaesthesiological team consisting of Alicja Kwiatkowska, MD, PhD, and the anesthetic nurse Barbara Dąbrowska.
The patient remains in the hospital and is under the care of Tomasz Ostrowski, MD, PhD, from the Clinic of General, Endocrinological and Vascular Surgery of UCC MUW headed by Prof. Zbigniew Gałązka.
The effectiveness of percutaneous cryoablation of a renal tumor is similar to that of a surgery (about 95%), and the complications are very rare with near zero mortality.
Unfortunately, currently most probably no such procedures are performed in any Polish hospital. Due to the significant advantage of computed tomography over ultrasound in cryoablation, such procedures are demanding in terms of equipment.
Interventional radiology is a field dealing with minimally invasive procedures performed under the control of imaging examinations such as ultrasound, computed tomography or X-ray fluoroscopy. Thanks to such treatments, many types of cancer can be treated in patients who cannot undergo surgery.
Interventional radiology is one of the four basic pillars of oncological treatment alongside surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In Poland, this is an underdeveloped field, therefore treatments such as those performed in the 2nd Department of Radiology are of particular value.
During the Covid19 pandemic, a patient short hospital stay is also particularly important.
