Radical and non-radical nephrectomy: no place for 'simple'.

摘要

The Merriam-Webster dictionary provides the colloquial definition for the word 'simple' as 'readily understood or performed', and offers antonyms including 'difficult', 'hard', 'complex' and 'complicated' . Interestingly, translation of this terminology into the medical literature has deviated far from this published English definition. Further complicating this conundrum is the lack of uniformity even within the urological and medical community. This is no more evident than when considering the terminology and definitions for simple and radical nephrectomy.A review of the USA National Cancer Institute (NCI) website (http://www.cancer.gov) shows that radical nephrectomy is defined as 'surgery to remove an entire kidney, nearby adrenal gland and lymph nodes, and other surrounding tissue'. Conversely, the NCI defines simple nephrectomy as 'surgery to remove one kidney'. Yet this definition of radical nephrectomy is quite antiquated.