1.Can kidney cysts subside by taking medicine? A: The current medical level has no special medicine for kidney cysts. For small kidney cysts, there is no need to do any treatment when there are no symptoms, but regular review is needed to observe whether the cysts continue to increase in size. Since infection is the reason that promotes the increase of cyst size and change of nature, so if infection occurs, appropriate anti-infection treatment can be given. Appropriate treatment with herbal regulation can also be considered. During the medication period, we should review the ultrasound regularly to observe the size change of the cyst, and if necessary, surgical treatment. 2.What treatment methods are available for kidney cysts? A: For kidney cysts less than 4cm in diameter, you can take conservative observation and regular review of ultrasound; for patients with cysts larger than 5cm in diameter, you can take the following methods of treatment: (1) cyst puncture and drainage sclerotomy under ultrasound or CT positioning, which is suitable for patients who are older or combined with other underlying diseases and not suitable for surgery. (2) Laparoscopic decompression of renal cysts. With the promotion of laparoscopic technology, laparoscopic renal cyst decompression is now the most commonly used procedure in clinical practice, which is less invasive and has a low recurrence rate of cysts after surgery. This procedure has gradually become the “gold standard” of renal cyst treatment. (3) Open cyst decompression. It is mostly used to relieve the symptoms of compression and obstruction caused by cysts or to remove the lesions suspected of cancer. 3.Why is laparoscopic cyst decompression and decompression the best treatment option? A: Among the three common methods for treating renal cysts, open surgery is more thorough in treating cysts, but the surgery requires making incisions in the patient’s waist and longer recovery time after surgery. And renal cyst puncture and drainage is only to suck out the fluid inside the capsule and inject anhydrous alcohol locally, and the possibility of cyst recurrence is higher after surgery. Laparoscopic renal cyst decompression is to remove the entire wall of the cyst, the “lid” of the cyst, so that the cyst cannot continue to grow, and the recurrence rate after surgery is low. Compared with open surgery, laparoscopic renal cyst decompression surgery is less invasive and the largest incision is only 1.5cm long. The surgical effect is fully equivalent to that of open surgery. Postoperative recovery is fast and the length of hospital stay is significantly shorter. Therefore, in recent years, laparoscopic renal cyst decompression has become the “gold standard” of renal cyst surgery treatment. 4.When is it necessary to operate for kidney cyst? A: Patients with renal cysts need surgery in the following cases: (1) renal cysts >5cm in diameter, causing pressure on the renal parenchyma; (2) renal cysts combined with renal hypertension; (3) obvious uncomfortable symptoms because of renal cysts, such as back pain, lumbar soreness, etc.; (4) changes inside the renal cysts, the cyst walls are not smooth and tissue shadows appear, in order to exclude malignant lesions, surgery is needed to identify them. (5) parapelvic cysts, which cause obvious hydronephrosis due to local compression. 5.Can renal cysts become malignant? Under what circumstances should malignant renal cyst be considered? A: The chance of malignant change of simple renal cyst is very small. However, if it is a complex cyst, the cyst wall is not smooth and soft tissue shadow appears in the cyst cavity, it is necessary to consider whether the cyst has malignant changes. For complex cysts, they can be classified into the following grades according to CT or MRI imaging, which is called Bosniak grading: Grade I Simple benign cyst without segregation and calcification. The cyst is pure cystic fluid with a watery CT value and no enhancement; Grade II benign cyst with a few separations and small calcifications in the cyst wall. no enhancement on CT; Grade III uncharacterizable cystic mass with thick cyst wall or separations and enhancement on CT; Grade IV malignant cystic mass with enhanced soft tissue. When the imaging of the patient’s renal cyst is consistent with Bosniak classification grade III or above, malignant renal cyst should be considered.