Ma J, Sun W, Qian W, et al. - The initial experience with the modified vein clamping technique for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma complicated with level I–II IVC thrombi indicate that this technique could be a safe and technically feasible alternative method for the treatment of these cases.

• Hospital admission of 11 patients with renal cell carcinoma involving an IVC tumour thrombus was followed by management with laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and IVC thrombectomy (LRN-IVCTE) using a modified vein clamping technique.

• Successful completion of all procedures was accomplished without conversion to open surgery.

• The median operative time and median blood loss was 185.00 min (145.00–216.00 min) and 200.00 ml (155.00–300.00 ml), respectively, and four patients had an intraoperative transfusion.

• The median IVC clamping time was 18.00 min (12.00–20.00 min); the median postoperative hospital stay and median follow-up was 6.00 days (4.00–7.00 days) and 28.00 months (4.00–34.00 months), respectively.