Comparison of Intermittent Versus Continuous Ischemia During Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy in a Porcine Model

Renal ischemic time is one of the most variable risk factors in partial nephrectomy (PN). Our purpose was to investigate if intermittent ischemia could decrease renal impairment in the process of PN in porcine model and explore the feasibility of this surgical procedure in nephrectomy. A kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury model was successfully established in six pigs under laparoscopic surgery. One kidney of each pig was continuously ischemic, and intermittent ischemia was administered to the kidney of another side. Laparoscopic renal artery occlusion was applied to each kidney for 120 minutes. Intermittent ischemia was 15/3 minutes of cycles (ischemia for 15 minutes and reperfusion for 3 minutes). Microdialysis technique, immunohistochemistry, and histopathology were used to evaluate the extent of renal function injures. The concentration of glycerol in intermittently ischemic group was significantly lower than that in continuously ischemic group (F = 19.06, p = 0.001). NGAL and BCL-2 immunostaining of the renal tubular epithelial cell in the intermittent ischemia kidneys was significantly reduced compared with that in the continuously ischemic kidneys (F = 5.51, p = 0.041; F = 13.53, p = 0.004). Our study has shown that intermittent ischemia is a possibly effective and practicable surgical process for reducing renal ischemic damage in porcine model nephrectomy.