The clamping technique of renal circulation blockage during partial nephrectomy in rats

Abstract Purpose Partial nephrectomy can be performed with or without ischemia. We conducted an animal experiment to determine whether artery-only clamping or artery-vein clamping is more effective. Materials and methods A total of twenty-four animals were divided into three groups: control, artery-only, and artery-vein. All rats first underwent right nephrectomy. In the control group, a left nephrectomy was performed six days later. In the artery-only group, a left partial nephrectomy was performed three days later by clamping only the artery. Similarly, in the artery-vein group, a left partial nephrectomy was performed three days later by clamping both the artery and vein. At the end of the experiment, the abdomen of all rats was opened via a midline incision, and the heart was accessed by cutting the diaphragm. Blood was aspirated from the heart. Left nephrectomy was performed three days after the left partial nephrectomy in both the artery-only and artery-vein groups. The left kidneys were examined pathologically. Inflammatory, oxidative, and antioxidant markers, as well as histopathological findings, were compared among the groups. Results There were no statistically significant differences in biochemical measurements between the groups. Bowman’s capsule enlargement, tubular necrosis, tubular regeneration, mitosis, interstitial inflammation, and tubular dilation did not differ significantly between the artery-only group and the artery-vein group. However, statistically significant differences were observed between the control group and the ischemia groups regarding Bowman’s capsule enlargement, tubular necrosis, leukocyte infiltration in the vasa recta, mitosis, and tubular dilation. Conclusion Although the sample size precludes establishing true biological equivalence, the lack of a significant acute structural difference between the two techniques suggests that when intraoperative clinical scenarios necessitate simultaneous artery-vein clamping, it serves as a safe alternative, as both techniques yield similar histopathological outcomes at three days.