Objective: To assess the feasibility of selective clamping of segmental renal arteries during partial nephrectomy, in order to limit renal infarction to the pathological area to be resected.
Materials and methods: A dissection of renal artery and its extraparenchymal branches was realised. The study included 30 kidneys from recent nonformolised corpses. The size, distribution, and accessibility of the arteries were considered. All the corpses underwent a lombotomy with or without rib resection.
Results: The majority of dissected kidneys had a unique artery (96.66% of cases). The number of segmental arteries was zero in five cases (16.66%), one in four cases (13.33%), two in four cases (13.33%), three in one case (3%), four in 15 cases (50%) and five in five cases (16.66%). The posterior and inferior segmental arteries were more accessible to isolate with a respective ratio of 94 and 100% at segmental level. Apical and middle segmental arteries were least accessible with a respective ratio of 73 and 80%. The majority of accidents during dissection occurred with the middle segmental artery (62.5% of vascular lesions).
Conclusion: This anatomic dissection on corpses showed that selective renal segmental arteries is possible in the majority of cases. This dissection is better indicated in partial nephrectomies for renal tumours located posteriorly or in the lower pole.