Laparoscopic procurement of single versus multiple artery kidney allografts: is long-term graft survival affected?

Living donor kidneys with multiple arteries (MA) are increasingly procured laparoscopically for transplant.

We compare long-term graft function and survival of kidneys with single arteries (SA) and MA over a 10-year period.

There were a total of 218 grafts with SA and 60 grafts with MA. The MA group had longer operative and ischemic times than SA group. There was a small increase in ureteral complication (8.3% vs. 2.3% P=0.06) and a significantly higher incidence of rejection (23.3% vs. 10.1%, P=0.01) in MA group than in SA group. Graft function was lower in MA group than SA group. The 5-year graft survival by Kaplan Meier analysis was better in SA group than in MA group (P=0.023). The estimated graft survivals at 1, 3, and 5 year were 94.4%, 90.6%, and 86% for SA group and 89.6%, 83.2%, and 71.8% for MA group. There was a higher percentage of graft loss from chronic allograft nephropathy in MA group than in SA group (16.7% vs. 5.5%, P=0.01). The presence of MA (vs. SA) was an independent risk for acute rejection (OR 3.60, 95% CI 1.59-8.14, P=0.002) and for graft loss (HR 2.31, 95% CI 1.05-5.09, P=0.038).

Laparoscopic procurement of living donor kidneys with SA may be associated with a lower risk of rejection, better function, and superior long-term survival when compared with kidneys with MA.