[Current value of laparoscopy for renal transplantation]

Laparoscopic techniques have not only become increasingly more important for patients on dialysis or after kidney transplantation, they also represent the operative standard procedures as almost all patients additionally suffer from concomitant diseases and do carry a higher operative risk. Therefore, these patients will derive special benefits from minimally invasive procedures offering lower morbidity and quick recovery. In centers with expertise in minimally invasive procedures, laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has already replaced open live donor nephrectomy as the standard procedure.