Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair after renal transplantation with extracorporeal bypass

The successful resection of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is presented in a patient who had undergone kidney transplantation 4 years previously. Because the transplanted kidney is more sensitive to ischemia than a normal one, a femoro-femoral bypass with a pump oxygenator was used for perfusion of the transplanted kidney during crossclamping. During the clamping time of 40 minutes kidney perfusion was maintained with a perfusion pressure of 60 to 80 mmHg and the flow was 600 to 1000 ml/min. A collagen-seeded Dacron graft (diameter: 18 mm, length: 12 mm) was interposed. The postoperative course was uncomplicated. We believe that performing the femoro-femoral bypass with a pump oxygenator is an effective and simple method for kidney protection in such operations.