While the patient is unconscious and pain-free (under general anesthesia), an incision is made in the abdomen or in the side of the abdomen (flank). The surgeon may need to remove a rib in to perform the procedure. The ureter (the tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder) and the blood vessels are cut away from the kidney and the kidney is removed. The incision is then closed. Kidney removal may be performed as open surgery, which involves a large incision in the flank. For certain patients, the procedure may be done laparoscopically, meaning the surgeon uses an instrument called a laparoscope to visualize the kidney through a smaller incision. Laparoscopic surgery requires 3 or 4 small incisions -- usually no more than an inch each -- in the abdomen and flank.
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