Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy: an update

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy was developed primarily to increase the number of kidneys available for donation. Further evidence of the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has been reported in the literature, as have studies on the cost-effectiveness of this procedure and its role in removing disincentives for renal donation. Specific technical modifications have been developed and refined that improve outcomes when performing laparoscopic harvesting of right kidneys. Other technical modifications have been developed for use in obese patients. With the adoption of these modified techniques, equivalent results to open donor nephrectomy have been reported. Recently, a wide range of alternative approaches (hand-assisted, retroperitoneal, and gasless laparoscopy) have been utilized for laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.