Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy

Laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (LDN) has removed disincentives of potential donors and may bear the potential to increase kidney donation. Multiple modifications have been made to abbreviate the learning curve while at the same time guarantee the highest possible level of medical quality for donor and recipient. We reviewed the literature for the evolution of the different LDN techniques and their impact on donor, graft and operating surgeon, including the subtleties of different surgical accesses, vessel handling and organ extraction. We performed a literature search (PubMed, DIMDI, medline) to evaluate the development of the LDN techniques from 1995 to 2003. Today more than 200 centres worldwide perform LDN. Hand-assistance has led to a spread of LDN. Studies comparing open and hand-assisted LDN show a reduction of operating and warm ischaemia times for the hand-assisted LDN. Different surgical access sites (trans- or retroperitoneal), different vessel dissection approaches, donor organ delivery techniques, delivery sites and variations of hand-assistance techniques reflect the evolution of LDN. Proper techniques and their combination for the consecutive surgical steps minimize both warm ischaemia time and operating time while offering the donor a safe minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure. LDN has breathed new life into the moribund field of living kidney donation. Within a few years LDN could become the standard approach in living kidney donation. Surgeons working in this field must be trained thoroughly and well acquainted with the subtleties of the different LDN techniques and their respective advantages and disadvantages.