The surgical removal of a kidney, either completely (radical nephrectomy) or partially (partial nephrectomy). It's performed to treat kidney cancer, severe kidney disease, or to harvest healthy kidneys for transplantation.
From Greek 'nephros' (kidney) and 'ektome' (excision or cutting out). The first successful nephrectomy was performed in 1861, and the procedure has evolved to include laparoscopic and robotic techniques for faster recovery.
Humans can live completely normal lives with just one kidney because each kidney has about one million filtering units called nephrons, providing enormous reserve capacity! Living kidney donation through nephrectomy is one of medicine's most altruistic acts, where healthy people undergo major surgery solely to save someone else's life.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.