RPLND -Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection Surgery
If your cancer has spread to your lymph nodes you will probably have chemotherapy to shrink them. If they don’t go back to normal size, the only way to know for sure why not is to take them out and send them to be looked at under a microscope. The operation to remove these lymph nodes is called a retro peritoneal lymph node dissection or RPLND.
For this procedure you will need a general anaesthetic. It is a long process, which normally takes several hours to complete. It includes cutting the lymph nodes that are behind your organs from the top of your tummy (abdomen) down to below your belly button to allow the surgeon to extract them. These nodes are situated between your kidneys and the blood vessels carrying blood to and from your heart.
