Conversion during laparoscopic anterior resection for rectal cancer with a congenital solitary pelvic kidney: A case report

A 54-year-old female patient was hospitalized with a chief complaint of anal discomfort. Based on biopsy results, she was diagnosed with highly differentiated adenocarcinoma, and colonoscopy findings indicated a type 3 rectal tumor. We observed a right pelvic kidney on enhanced abdominal CT. We began a laparoscopic operation but converted to an open operation after resecting the right pelvic renal artery by mistake. After low anterior resection, urologists performed angioplasty of the right renal pelvic artery. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 16, after the preservation of right renal function had been confirmed. This case strongly suggests that it is important to understand the positional relationship of the inferior mesenteric and renal arteries by preoperative assessment using either 3-D CT angiography or magnetic resonance angiography.